Ruby Red
by Al-ee-sin
Summary: LAST CHAPTER IS POSTED! Victoria is yet again with another family. Which she doesn't know that this family is different. She also doesn't know that her life is going to change forever, because of the people she meets, and from the decisions she makes.
1. Blaine Family

**Authors note: Sorry for making it so long, I just wanted to introduce the characters and get you guys comfortable with the setting, and knowing whats going on. Hope you enjoy it.**

**Please Read and Review. Thank you.**

**:D**

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As I was watching the trees and objects fly by, all I could think about was my mother. _She caused all this._ I thought._ She's the reason why I'm on my way to meet a new family. _We have been on the road for hours, heading to meet the "Blaine Family." 

"Okay, were almost there. Now when we get there, I'll just–"

I interrupted."I know what's going to happen. You have explained the same thing to me three times now." _Idiot._ I continued to stare out the window, seeing that the enormous amount of trees were slowing down. When we turned down the driveway, I almost gasped out loud, from the sight of the house. It was a two-story white house, with blue trimming, and a porch traveling all around the house. I only grew up in two bedrooms, one bathroom apartment. So this was amazing, but at the same time, It worried me.

"How many kids do they have?" I asked.

"They have three kids that are adopted, and two of their own." Mrs. Something said. I never got her name. The reason for that is because I never cared. I don't even know what her job is.

"You failed to tell me that. I don't like _big_ families." I told her. She took her eyes off of what she was doing for a second, and smiled at me.

"You don't seem to listen well do you? I have told you everything there is to know about this family." She replied. I started to zone out, so I didn't have to listen to her annoying voice. When Mrs. Whatever, came to a stop, I didn't jump out of the car, excited to meet them. I actually didn't bother getting out of the car, till she came around to open my door. She stood there, waiting for me to make a move.

"Yes?" I asked.

"Victoria, get out of this car, their waiting." She snapped.

"Who's... this... Victoria, your talking about?" I snapped back. I crossed my arms, to imitate the way she was looking, and rolled my eyes. Behind Mrs. Crap head, the Blaine family made their way outside to greet me, some with smiles, and some looking like they were annoyed. _Great. A parade to introduce me to the world._ I glanced at Mrs. Loser, and she had the "ha-ha" look on her face.

"Victoria! It's so nice to finally meet you." A lady with a smile from ear to ear, was walking up to me, arms fully extended. She had long, straight, blonde hair that went down to the middle of her back, and icy blue eyes, also extremely tan. She looked to be in her 30's. I got out of the car slowly, showing no excitement, with my arms still folded. She paused, waiting for me to come closer, but then proceeded to hug me. When she let go, a man in his 30's walked towards me with the same expression as the lady. He had dark, spiky brown hair, with hazel eyes, and he was also tan. He gave me a big hug, and as he was letting go he whispered in my ear, "Welcome to your new home. I'm Chris."

"Well my name is Kelly, and this is Daniel." The 30 year old lady pointed to herself, then pointed to a boy that was at least 6'4. _He's tall! _He was tan, just like them all, and had his dark brown hair spiked up. A smile grew upon his face, that made his light brown eyes almost disappear. He waved. But I was too stubborn to wave back, knowing that Mrs. Whatever was looking at me. _I'm not happy, so why pretend to be?_

"Next to Daniel, is Faith." She was beautiful. She had long straight black hair, that went down to the middle of her back, which was tucked back behind her ear, on one side. And she had the greenest eyes that I have ever seen. Well, she's the only green eyed person I've seen. She waved, and gave me a quick smile.

"Next to Faith is Kyle." He was also huge, the same height as Daniel. But he had blonde "surfer" like hair, that flipped out at the ends, and went past his light brown eyes.

"Well Abigail and Andrew aren't here right now. There over at their grandmas. So you'll meet them later." She said with a smile on her face. _Lady, you creep me out. You better get that smile off your face, or I'll do it for you. _I laughed, and everyone stared at me, and I realized that I laughed out loud.

Mrs. Something broke the awkwardness and said, "Okay, well I have to go. I have somebody else, that I have to _deal_ with." She gave me a quick glance, and went to the car to retrieve my stuff. As she got in the car, Daniel started to pick up my luggage, along with my book bag.

"No, I can get that." I snatched my book bag away from him, and everyone gave me a weird look. _What? I have some personal stuff in here people!_ Kelly, led the group towards the house, and I just stood there looking around. The house was surrounded by trees, and a big yard. As I looked into the trees, I saw nothing but a small river, and a bridge built over it. _Great. I live in the middle of no where._ I was used to the sounds of cars, and people screaming, or police sirens. Also other buildings surrounding mine, and pollution in the air. Not nature, and birds chirping or fresh air. But I have to admit. It's kinda nice. When I zoned back in, Daniel was standing next to me saying, "Did you hear me, Victoria?" I turned to look at him, and nodded no.

"I was telling you to come on, before you get eaten by the bears." He laughed, when he saw my expression.

"I'm just joking. Now come on!" He grabbed my arm and dragged me up the steps, and into the house. The house was amazing inside. It had dark hard wood floors, and huge stairs leading to the second floor. Everything was very elegant, with colors that only consisted of golds, maroon, and cream. _Holy sh–_

"Haha, by your expression I'm guessing you like it?" Daniel interrupted with a smile. I didn't attempt to say anything, and just started walking into the living room that was next to the front door. I looked at some of the pictures on the wall, which had the whole family together, either them having fun, or just portraits. As I sat down on the elegant couch, I started flipping through the "family album." I saw two little blonde kids, one girl with long blonde hair, and light brown eyes, and a boy with short spiky blonde hair, and icy blue eyes. Underneath the picture it said, Abigail and Andrew 2007. _Oh, so these are their real kids? _

"That's Abigail and Andrew, their fraternal twins." I looked up to see Kelly looking at me, with another one of her smiles. I smiled back, but just this once!

"You want to see your room? I know your going to love it!" She started walking towards the stairs and I got up to follow her. As I was walking up the stairs, small, flashes of memories of my mother and I, flooded my head. It happens a lot. Ever since my mother _ditched_ me. Sometimes they would be long, horrible memories, or short ones. _Ugghh, get out of my head! _This memory was when me and my mother went to the park, and we stayed there till' dusk. _The best day of my life._ I thought to myself. When I finally came back to reality, my face was meeting the hard wood stairs. _Oh god. That hurt._ When I touched my nose, red blood was gushing out of it. I realized that I was at the top, and I thought there was another step.

"Oh my god! Are you okay?" Kelly was helping me up. _Oh yes, my nose is gushing out blood. IM GREAT. _

"You seem to zone out a lot don't you?" Kelly said, followed by a laugh. She led me to a bathroom that was at the beginning of a long hall and handed me toilet paper to stuff up my nose.

After awhile the blood started to give up, and I looked around to see blood everywhere. I gave Kelly a half smile, to let her know that I was sorry.

"It's okay, I'll have Kyle to clean it up. Now are you finally ready to see your room?" I nodded, and she helped me off of the counter, and guided me with her hand on my back. When we reached the end of the hallway, Kelly opened the door, and light flooded my face, making me squint. When my eyes focused, I saw the colors green and black. _My favorite colors... how did they know?_ As I started to walk around, I noticed how all my stuff was put in the closet, and pictures of me and my friends up on the walls, or sitting on the desk.

"Mrs. Adams–" _Haha, so that's her name. _"_–_told me about your favorite colors, and me and Faith set up your room so you felt like you were home." _Woman, this place will never be like my home. _I nodded, and smiled, indicating that I was happy, and thankful for what they have done. She walked off, and closed the door, leaving me alone to explore. I set my book bag on the floor and walked to the closet and walked in. Yes, a walk-in closet. Which I never had a closet before, and this closet was the size of my bathroom in the apartment. All my stuff was hanging up neatly, with pants, shorts on one side, and t-shirts, and jackets on the other. Also clothes that I have never recognized before. I walked out of the closet and headed for these two big windows on the opposite side of the room. When I opened these so-called windows, I almost fainted at the sight. It was a balcony above a small yard, and was surrounded by a lot of trees. The trees were taller than the two story house, but the yard made the trees really far away, so there was no shade. I walked back inside to find Kyle opening up the door.

"Victoria, can I come in?" He said with a hushed voice. I walked to the door, and nodded, allowing him to come in. I know what your thinking, but I'm not talking just yet. I'll wait for the right moment.

He walked with such long strides that he was sitting on my bed after just three steps. I sat down on my desk chair, waiting for him to say something.

"I'm going to come right out and say this." He cleared his throat, and began.

"You may not like it here, and you may not like us. But Kelly and Chris, are really excited that you're here. I have been living with them for 9 years, and I was in–" _Blah. Blah. Blah. You know, Kyle is really attractive. He looks like a guy from a modeling magazine. Tan, blonde, tall, muscular... his face is very manly looking. Ooo, Tori focus!_ "–we moved here from California. So all I'm saying is that, even though you may not like it here. Please, just please, pretend. For Kelly and Chris." I just stared at him, trying to understand what I missed, but then just nodded.

"Well, thanks for listening, and if you have any questions, just yell, or _knock_ on my door, which you'll be able to know which room is mine." Kyle smiled quickly, and got up from the bed. Once again, taking only three strides and he was at the door. When I explored everything, I headed down the long hallway, looking for the bathroom, because I forgot where it was. As I was passing rooms, they each had signs on them. Like, Faith had her name and stickers on her door. Also Daniel just had his name on his door, and nothing else. _How boring._ And Kyle had his name painted across the door in big neon green letters, with drawings that he had made. _Well I guess this is what he meant when he said 'You'll be able to know which room is mine.' _When I came across a door that had no sign on it, I guessed that It was the bathroom. And sure enough, it was. It was beautiful, which made me confused on why I didn't notice it when I was in here earlier. It had pretty counters, and gold sinks, and the shower was really big. Everything was put in order, and the towels were folded neat. I'm surprised that anybody would go to the bathroom, because It was really _that_ nice. As I was looking around I got a small glimpse at my self in the mirror. I hate looking at my self in the mirror. But I do it anyways. I realized, that I had huge dark circles under my dark brown eyes, so I turned on the facet and cupped my hands so I could get water to my face to try to clear the tiredness away. After I dried my face I looked in the mirror again trying to fix my brown wavy hair, but another memory was creeping into my head. This time it was me and my mother in the bathroom, with her putting make up on me, and me putting make up on her. Of course, I looked like a princess and I made my mom look like the ugly step sister. There was a knock on the door, which made me jump a little, but helped me come back to reality. I opened it and Faith was standing there with her arms folded, clearly telling me that she didn't want to talk to me.

"Dinner is ready down stairs." She walked off, with her arms still folded, and a sort of attitude in her walk. _I have a feeling, that I'm going to have some troubles with that girl. _I sighed and headed for the stairs, preparing my self for a game of 20 questions. With that thought in mind, I started to think of questions I could ask each of them... That is, if I _want _to talk to them... _I could ask them... hmm, how old they are? No, that's stupid. How about when does school start? No, it's not the right time to ask that question. How about–_ My thoughts were interrupted when I heard Kyle screaming and telling me to get out of the way. When I turned around I realized I was half way down the stairs, and Kyle followed by Daniel were rushing towards me. So I grabbed onto the hand rail and held on for dear life.

"Haha, not this time brother." Kyle said with a grin on his face.

"You wish. You never can beat me." Daniel pushed Kyle off to the side and jumped the last few steps, followed by Kyle landing on top of him. Daniel started to push Kyle off and got up, cupping his hands together and waving them in the air.

"Thank you! Thank you! Once again, I _win!_" Daniel headed towards the dining room with his nose in the air, also ignoring his brother. Kyle started to do the same, and breathed in a deep breath. That's when I realized that I was still hanging on the railing as if someone was going to kill me. I relaxed and let go, and headed for the dining room smelling something really familiar in the air. When I reached my destination, they were sitting in their "assigned" seats at a long table. Kelly at one end and Chris at the other. I walked slowly towards the table and hesitated, not sure if there was a certain seat I had to sit in.

"You sit next to me." Daniel said, followed by a smile. I slowly reached the chair and sat down, feeling that all eyes were on me but I didn't dare to look up. After a couple of minutes Faith came in smiling and sat down across from me, next to Kyle. When she looked at me her smile faded and I could almost swear that she was glaring at me. Kelly got up from the table and returned with platters covered up by a silver cover.

"Well Mrs. Adams told us your favorite dish, so I decided to make it, as a welcome dinner." _My favorite food? How would Mrs. Adams know my favorite food?_ Kelly must have noticed the confused look on my face before answering,

"Chicken and dumplings. Right?" I froze. _No...no. How would they know!?!? How? _She revealed six bowls of chicken and dumplings, and sat down. More memories of me and my mother flooded my head. This time it was me and my mom cooking chicken dumplings, my favorite dish, and it was hers too. I would sit on the counter and pass her things that she needed. This time was the one time I will always remember. This is the night we got into a flour fight. I came back to reality and quickly got up from the table, keeping my head down, so I didn't have to look at the confused faces. I ran up the stairs almost tripping over my own feet, and also from the tears forming in my eyes, making everything a blur. When I made it into my room, I flopped down on my bed, digging my head into the pillows. _Maybe I should run away. I can't take it anymore! Im 16 I can live on my own. _With those thoughts in mind, my eyes became heavy and I finally let the tiredness take over me. Luckily I didn't have to deal with the memories of me and my mom in my dream. My dream consisted of just me as a child playing with my good friend, who lived a couple houses down from me. We were at the park playing in the sandbox, it was the time another kid came up to me and took my toy. My good friend stood up to him, which he was a head smaller than the other kid, and punched him right in the stomach. The boy fell to the ground screaming and that's when me and my friend ran. We ran into the woods, and got lost.

I woke up from the sound of the door slamming open. I sat up rubbing my eyes, trying to adjust to the light that was turned on. When they finally adjusted, Kyle was sitting on the desk chair, and he didn't look to happy.

"What the hell was that about?" I gave him a confused look, not sure of what he was talking about.

"At dinner. You made Kelly very upset. I told you, if you don't like it here at least pretend to be happy." He gave me a deathly glare, that made me pissed off.. I didn't know what to say. He doesn't need to know my problems. I fell back onto the bed, and let out a loud sigh. _I'm not going to say anything. That would surely piss him off. _He turned around and propped his feet up on the desk, and he put his arms behind his head.

"I'm not leaving till you tell me what that incident at dinner was all about." _Ooo great, he's a stubborn one._ _Well if he wants to play that game, then let's see who wins._ I got under the covers and started to read a book that Mrs. Adams gave me when she found out that I like to read. It was neatly placed on the bed side table, next to a photo of me and a girl I met at a summer camp, a few years ago.

When I was half way through the second chapter, I looked over to see Kyle still propped up on the desk. "Hmm. I can do this allll night."He said followed by a fake yawn, and he turned around to look at me with and devilish smile, that's when a loud knock came at the door and Daniel walked in. He cocked his head to the side, confused about what was going on.

"I'm not going to ask. But Kyle we need to go, they called." Kyle got up quickly but still had the devilish smile on his face, telling me that this game wasn't over. They both walked out closing the door, this time they didn't slam it. _I wonder what that was all about._ _What do they mean by 'they called'? _

I didn't want to deal with it so I just ignored their stupidity, and decided to go and talk to Kelly, because I felt bad about what I had done at the dinner table.

I walked down the long hallway, wondering where she would be. I guessed and headed down stairs to the kitchen, thinking maybe she is still cleaning up. When I reached the kitchen, sure enough, Kelly was there cleaning the dishes, and putting them in the dish washer.

I sighed so she would know that I was present, and finally got the courage to talk for the first time.

"Kelly?" I asked quietly, not sure if she could have heard it.

She turned around and she set the sponge down and wiped her hands on her apron. She just stood there waiting for me to finish what I have started, with a blank stare.

"Kelly, I came down here to apologize for the way I acted at the dinner table. It's just that, the dinner reminded me of some memories I tried to keep away for good. Please forgive me." _Wow, I'm sucking up good. _

It took her a while to respond but when she did, relief washed over me.

"Thank you, for apologizing. I just wasn't sure if you were already not liking the thought of living here... or my dinner looked horrible to you.. I just wasn't sure." She smiled, dismissing me from the conversation.

As I was leaving, she stopped me saying, "Oh, and also it's great to know that your not a mute." She smiled, and I smiled back, and walked off.


	2. The Woods

I sat and watched the t.v. channels flip by at an amazing speed. _I knew I shouldn't have given the remote to Kyle_.

"I know a secret." I said with a smile. He turned towards me after leaving it on one channel. _Finally._

"Yes, and that is?" I hesitated, making him anxious.

"I heard... that people are more likely to find a show that they want to watch, by flipping through the channels... slloowwlly." His blonde eye brows went downward covering half of his light brown eyes, and he grabbed a pillow and threw it at me. I blocked just in time. Faith walked in and sat down in the chair next to the couch. She gave me a sideways glace and said, "Wow, the _thing_ actually talks." That really pissed me off. I got up from the couch and stood over her, pointed my finger in her face, and was hoping that she was getting angry.

"Listen here, slut. You either shut the hell up, or I'll do it for you." Faith just stared directly in my eyes, not even changing her nasty expression. I was about to go on but Daniel stepped in.

"Victoria, why don't you go outside and get some fresh air." He started to push me towards the front door before I could protest, so instead I didn't take my eyes off of her, and she did the same.

When I reached the door and opened it, the sun was high in the sky facing the house. I squinted my eyes, until I finally adjusted to the light. _Ahh, fresh air._ I breathed in a deep breath, and let it out with a loud sigh. It was nice to be outside finally. I never really got the chance to go outside in the past three days I've been here. Kelly let me sleep in, which I didn't get up till noon, then she assigned chores, made me try on dresses, which I don't know why, made me read these two books for summer reading for school, and a whole lot more. I closed the front door, and walked down the steps towards the pretty garden and fountain that was off to the side of the house. Kelly told me that she loved to work in her garden. And it sure showed it. Everything was neatly cut back, and the fountain was marble white. Not a single weed was sprouting in her garden that consisted of, white, and red yellow mixed roses, and a light blue and purple hydrangeas. _It's absolutely beautiful. _I laid down next to the garden, looking up towards the sky. I have always loved looking at the sky, especially when the sun is setting, or rising. But right now, clouds were scattered, only being able to see few glimpses of the baby blue sky. I closed my eyes, picturing the last day I spent with my mother.

It was the day I was turning 7. _My birthday. _I thought. I sat there on the couch waiting for my mom to get home from work. It was 4:30 when she did, but that day she promised me she would be home early. She didn't look at me when I got up to greet her with a big hug, which I was expecting her to greet me with a 'Happy birthday'. But all she did was pass me and went straight to her bedroom. As I followed her, she sat down on her bed with her face in her hands, not even glancing at me. I sat down next to her and started to comb through her hair with my fingers trying to calm her down, but she got up and headed to her closet to pack things up.

I was so confused on why she was packing up, also at the same time I was panicking.

"Should I pack my stuff too, mommy? Are we going on a trip together for my birthday?"

I wasn't expected for her to say what she did.

"No, I–I have to leave you. Your uncle will be by to pick you up later." I was lost for words. I didn't know what to say or do. But I was getting frustrated because she still didn't turn around to look at me. Few minutes passed by, of just her sobbing, and packing her clothes from the closet, and me dumb-struck from what she told me. But then she got up and headed for the door, with me following right behind her. She walked down the steps towards a silver, tinted window car, and put her stuff in the trunk. Before she sat down in the passenger seat, she mouthed the words 'I love you, always.' with a small tear coming down her right cheek. I watched the silver car drive away with my mother inside, and knowing that she will never be back. The very drugs she started using several years ago, has finally taken away the things she loved the most. The rest of the day I just sat there on the sidewalk up against the wall, with the teddy bear my mother made me in my lap, till the bright white moon filled the streets with light. It was then I decided that my uncle would never come to pick me up, so I went back to the apartment. Alone.

My dream was interrupted with the voices of Kyle, and Daniel heading in my direction. I got up rubbing, and clearing the few tears that escaped my eyes.

"Hey Victoria. Enjoying the sun?" Daniel said with a nice, friendly smile. Daniel has been the nicest out of all the siblings.

I shook my head 'yes', and got up, brushing all the dirt and grass off of my jeans, and green shirt.

"Well me and Kyle are headin... umm, into town. So we'll see you later." Daniel waved bye and went to catch up with Kyle, which he was in the car, ready to go.

As they left, I walked to the edge of the woods wanting to go in, but Kelly and Chris made it clear that I wasn't allowed. Which they failed to tell me why but I was in the adventurous mood today. So before I knew it, I was deep in the woods with the big house disappearing from my view. It became pretty dark from the trees covering up the bright sun, which was nice. The trees were tall, and had thick trunks. The woods were pretty clear also, no bushes or vines, just tall trees, leaves, and occasionally roots sprouting out of the ground. I also had to dodge some spider webs that were forming from tree to tree, which didn't bother me, I think spiders are cool. When I finally walked far enough, to where the house was out of my sight; I stopped to look around for a nice cozy spot to sit in. There was an area where no sticks were at, just a big dirt pile. I sat down on the pile of dirt, which was some what wet, and also cold, but my legs started to hurt, so I had to deal with it. When I finally relaxed I started to notice my surroundings a little bit more. There was an opening at the highest part of the trees where leaves should be. It looked like someone just chopped down a couple of the branches to make a perfect "O". There wasn't any sun, which probably would have been amazingly beautiful coming through that part of the trees, but the longer I looked, the more noticed I became of the dark clouds forming in the sky. The wind whipped around me fast, making my hair fly, slapping me in my face. In the wind, there was the dark, chilly feeling, telling me that a storm was forming, or on it's way. Personally, I love storms, but I don't like it when I'm out side when there could be lightning, so I stood up quickly and began brushing off the wet dirt from my jeans. As I started to walk off, I heard dark growls from behind me.

_Oh boy, Daniel defiantly wasn't kidding about the bears._ My mind wouldn't allow my body to turn around. Clearly my mind wasn't ready to find out what was growling behind me.

_Run Victoria! Run.. _Something told me in my head.

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**Authors note: Thanks for reading so far. I'll be posting the next chapter up pretty soon.**

**Please review.**

**Thanks.**


	3. Purple Eyes

_Run Victoria! Run.. _Something told me in my head.

I started to run as the adrenaline started to pump in my heart and through my body. For the strangest reason, the trees were closer together and there were more things to dodge, jump over, and duck from. _This wasn't like before. Crap I must be going in the wrong direction_. It confused me on how I was going in the wrong direction when all I did was run straight. But I was only confused for a few seconds before I heard the growling get louder and more fierce. Finally I forced my head to whip around to see what was following me.

I turned back around. _Wolves? Holy, mother of– _I tripped from stepping in a hole, which I obviously can't think inside my head and watch where I'm going. I got on my back, and started to scoot backwards on my hands and feet, with my eyes closed. My eyes just didn't want to look at what was about to kill me. I jumped from the sound of a deep, loud growl coming from one of the wolves. That's when I forced my eyes opened.

There, in front of me, were two huge wolves, with their heads low to the ground, teeth showing, and their purple eyes glaring at me. _Wait– Purple eyes? _They were the biggest wolves I have ever seen, with the longest legs and with a long body. The one on the left had long golden brown fur that was flowing with the wind, and the one next to it had black fur dancing with the wind also. _Purple eyes?_ _Nah– im dreaming again._

The next thing I knew the black wolf started to take slow steps towards me, while the other one stayed back. I started to crawl backwards faster than before. _I don't wanna die, I don't wanna die, I don't wanna die._

That's when my back hit a tree, and the wolf was getting closer. _I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die_. I closed my eyes, and a memory popped in my head. It was my friend punching the kid who was going to steal my toy, in the stomach, and also of us running.

That's when I got the nerve to get up and run.

I dodged every tree, jumped over every log, also ran into some spider webs, but nothing convinced me that I was going fast enough, or going to live. My body started to get tired, I was gasping for air, and I was losing speed. I looked behind me and saw that the wolves weren't following me anymore. So I stopped, hoping that they found something else to snack on or torture. I put my hands on my knees trying to catch my breath. That's when another growl began to form into a loud snarl, behind me.

I turned around and the same two wolves were in front of me, with the same piercing, purple eyes.

"Oh, please. Don't hurt me." Even though I knew they couldn't talk or even understand, it was comforting knowing that I can still talk, and that I'm still alive. The growls became louder, but appeared to be behind me and not just in front of me. _No more wolves, it's just my imagination._

I glanced really quick behind me and noticed two more wolves growling at me. I fully turned around without thinking and saw two pair of the same deep, swirling, purple eyes staring at me; also their teeth fully shown. One of the wolves had bleach blonde fur that almost looked white, and it's companion had dark brown fur. They both had the long legs, and long bodies, which was strange. The blonde and dark brown wolves crept towards me, slowly, with their heads low to the ground.

My body just wouldn't move anymore. I was tired and I was in shock of what was going on. _My life is over. Goodbye cruel world._ I glanced behind me and saw that the other wolves were slowly walking towards me as well.

But that's when I heard a loud growl from the dark brown and blonde wolf, which were appearing beside me, totally ignoring me and heading for the other wolves. Several growls were being exchanged from each wolf, showing that the dark brown wolf was in charge of this so called "pack". The dark brown wolf looked at me, and the others did the same, then they walked off.

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**Well I was hoping for more reviews... So when I see that I don't get that many reviews, it makes me think that no one likes it. ****I was hoping for some good reviews but also some reviews that would tell me what I need to improve on. **So I'll probably take it off if I don't get any reviews.

**But thank you to, ilovetwilight99, and Alice Penn, for writing a review.**

**:D**


	4. Somethings not right

**Authors Note: I'm posting this chapter, but I would like to see atleast 5 more reviews before I post the next one. I would like to know what you think of this story people, or what I need to change about it! **

**So please write a review.**

**Thank you to the people who have written a review.**

**:D**

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It was probably hours, maybe days, I wasn't really sure. I sat up against a tree, with my legs to my chest and my head resting on my knees. The storm had passed not shedding one drop of rain, or lightning bolt. But the darkness of night was creeping up on me. I didn't want to move, and if I did move I wouldn't know where to go.

_I'm lost. Stupid wolves. I should have listened to Kelly and Chris. Stupid me. _

I looked up and saw the few stars that crept out of the leaves and into my view. It was surprisingly clear of clouds, which made the moons light spread all throughout the woods, making everything visible.

I sat there not lying down, not standing. I was just too worried that something would try to kill me again. Every minute felt like an hour, well it could have actually been an hour, I wouldn't have known. I didn't have a watch that told me the time, or what day it was.

My eyes were getting heavier and heavier, but this defiantly wasn't the time to sleep. I needed to be worried about how I was getting back to the house, and also needed to worry about the wolves that could come back any minute. But my eyes were telling me different. They just wouldn't stay open.

_Maybe I can just rest my eyes... for a little bit._

When I closed my eyes, I didn't get a dream that consisted of me and my mother, but something worse started to fill my head. Two unusual wolves, growling, with something dark, and thick seeping out of their sharp teeth. In my dream I became curious and started to walk closer, towards a dark brown fur wolf; with my arm extended, reaching towards the wolfs mouth. My mind was telling me to stop, but my body kept going, still curious. As I softly touched the wolfs mouth, the thick, dark liquid was pouring out on my hands. And as I was examining the liquid, the wolves moved to the side, revealing what they had hidden.

I gasped.

It was a boy about my age, with the palest skin I have ever seen. His dark, black side-swipe hair was still neatly placed, but something was odd about him. His eyes were a dark red with a swirling ruby red, making them almost a dark pink color. _That's not normal._ I looked even closer and saw that his black shirt, and jeans were ripped, revealing his open wounds.

_Its– Its blood on my hands. _I started to panic. Wiping the blood on the trees surrounding me.

_**Yes. It's blood. Don't panic, it's not human blood.**_ I looked around, confused.

_Oh god, I'm going crazy now..._

_**No your not. I'm talking to you, with our minds.**_ The dark brown wolf stepped closer, telling me that It was him talking to me.

"This isn't real. I'm dreaming. You-- Your not real." I pointed to the boy. "He's not real. Haha, none of this is real, I'm just going cra–"

My eyes finally opened from this terrible nightmare. Except I was in a brightly lit room, which was not familiar to me. _Wasn't I in the woods?_

I closed my eyes again hoping that what I saw wasn't true.

"Victoria? Are you awake?" A sweet, kind voice said to me. _Kelly._ I opened my eyes, and sat up, followed by a smile. I was excited to see a familiar, kind face like Kelly's. She softly placed my brown wavy hair behind my ear and shifted the blanket to where it was around me. I looked around and noticed I was placed in a big silky white bed, surrounded by white walls. Two huge windows were covered by sheer white curtains letting in the right amount of light. The door clicked opened and Daniel's head popped in, with a big smile spread across his tan, and muscular face . He walked in and sat down on the bed next to Kelly, with Kyle right on his heals.

"Welcome back sleeping beauty. Sorry, you would have been woken up earlier, but we couldn't find anybody that was a prince, and that would kiss you." Daniel said with a laugh. I rolled my eyes, but laughed a little at how hard he tries to be funny.

"How did I get here? Was everything just a dream?" I was confused. Everything was just jumbled together, I didn't know what was real or what was fake.

"Well we don't know what you saw or did, but Daniel and Kyle found you deep in the woods." Kelly said looking slightly irritated. I knew I was going to get into trouble.

Daniel added, "Yeah, you were really deep in the woods. You were passed out or something, because we just couldn't wake you up." I looked at Kyle and seeing his expression told me that he was going to have a long talk with me later on.

"Then when they got you back here you were having nightmares or something. You kept mumbling, and rolling." Kelly added.

"Well why don't you get cleaned up and come down for dinner." Kelly got up followed by Daniel, but Kyle didn't move. His arms were folded, as usual, and he had a irritated look across his face.

"Before you say anything, did you know that there are like bear-wolf things in the woods?"

"You didn't listen to Kelly or Chris when they told you not to go into the woods."

"Yes, I know, and I'm sorry. I was curious, and I was in the adventurous mood. I won't do it again." I said with an ashamed tone. "But did you know?...About the bearwolves?" I said again.

"Victoria. I don't want to be the jerk here. It's just that I'm looking after Kelly and Chris. They have been hurt in the past, and I don't want to see them hurt again.

Also, it's not just that.. I'm just looking out for you. I don't want you see you get hurt." Kyle sat down next to me, and handed me some hot tea. He smiled. "Why don't you get cleaned up and come down and eat a nice meal with us."

I nodded, and took a sip of my hot tea, which cleared my throat and made me more awake. Kyle walked out with his usual 3 strides and closed the door behind him.

_He's definantly not telling me something._


	5. The Email

**A.N.- Sorry people for taking so long. The next chapter will be posted up pretty soon, like tomorrow. So get excited. haha.**

**Well here yah go.**

**:D**

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I finally got a chance to sleep in my own bed, which was nice. The past couple of days have been boring... the same old, same old. Kyle and Daniel went on their occasional local town trips, Kelly and Chris have been going to work, Faith has been over at her boyfriends house, and the twins have been everywhere. Me, I'm always just watching T.V. I have been "grounded" from going outside, for about a week. Today was the day I could go outside again. 

I opened the front door, and stepped out onto the front porch and took in a long, deep breath. _Finally, my freedom is back. _The morning sun was peaking through the scattered clouds, making it's way into my view, blinding me. I shielded my eyes with my arm, and walked back in the house. _Uggh, I'm so bored._

Kelly and Chris were already at work, and Faith and the twins were over at their grandma's house.

I ran and flopped down onto the couch and turned the T.V. on, and started to watch Saved by the Bell.

"Good morning Victoria." Said a friendly familiar voice behind me. I turned around to see Daniel dressed in his usual jeans and a tight blue shirt that showed off his muscles.

"Morning. You know I'm off of groundation right?"

Kyle walked in and shook his head. "Yeah, but that doesn't mean you can go out into the woods. Or roam far from the house."

I rolled my eyes and continued to watch Zach from Saved by the Bell, make a mess of everything, like always.

Daniel interrupted, "Well were going out to the town again, so don't do anything stupid. We don't want to have to go looking for you again, and I'm sure you don't feel like sitting around here not being able to do anything for another whole week." Daniel picked up a pillow that was on the ground and threw it at me, and walked out of the house, with Kyle right on his heels, like always.

I walked to the front door and locked it, but then I got a great idea."...Maybe I'll take a trip to the town today too." I got up and ran to the back of the house, and opened the sliding glass door and ran along the side of the house. I peaked around the corner and saw Kyle and Daniel going through the two-car garage looking for something. I looked at the car in the driveway and saw that one of the doors were opened, so I knew that was the car I had to get into. I tippy toed to the edge of the woods and ran along it, crouched down making sure they wouldn't see me. As I reached the dark blue, tinted window BMW, I opened the door and snuck in the back, and crouched down behind the seats. I covered myself with something that looked like a jacket. Then I heard their voices, and the front doors being opened, and slammed shut.

"I told you the Tampa Bay Bucs would win." Sounded like Kyle.

"Yeah, whatever bro, that was just a lucky guess. You-- do-t l-- --em." Someone turned on the music while Daniel was talking. _Crap. Turn off the radio!_

After a couple minutes passed, my left leg started to tingle, and get numb, but I couldn't move. As they talked, I slowly moved the jacket away from my head; allowing me to see the windshield in full view.

Surrounding us, on both sides of the car, were tall, thick trees, and nothing more. No houses, no town, just nothing.

I jumped at the sound of Daniel's voice, "Were here." I pulled the jacket over my head, and waited till they got out of the car.

When the car doors shut, I slowly crawled to the other side of the car to peak out of the side window. In my view were the backs of Daniel and Kyle next to each other, and 3 other guys facing them. They all were built the same as Daniel and Kyle. About 6'4, muscular, and tan. One had golden blonde spiky hair, with hazel eyes, and a scar going from his jaw down to the middle of his neck. Next to him, was a guy who had black, side-swiped hair, with dark brown eyes, which he didn't look as preppy as the other ones. He looked like the type of guy that if you say one bad thing he would rip you to shreds. And next to him was a red head, with freckles covering his face. _The friendly one. _I thought.

They all started to talk to each other, which I couldn't quite make out completely on what they were saying. It was mainly mumbling and occasionally I would be able to understand a few words. My neck started to cramp, so I climbed into the seat, hoping they wouldn't see me. After a few minutes passed, I gave up on trying to figure out what they were talking about, so I became nosey and started looking through the car. I opened the glove box and searched for anything interesting, which all there was, was a pen, Josh Groban CD, _Wow, thats odd. Which one listens to him?_ A few napkins and a piece of paper.

I opened the paper, and it looked like an email.

**TO: Daniel**

**FROM: Mike**

**Hey, haven't talked to you in a while, since the incident. If I knew you knew her I wouldn't have done anything. I just wanted to say im sorry. I would like for you to meet with me, and the guys, so we can get back into our routine. Meet me, and the guys near our meeting place, around 11:00. **

I looked at the clock and it was 11:15. Obviously this was the day they were talking about, and their 'meeting place'. _I wonder which ones Mike._ In the corner of my eye Kyle started to move towards the car. So I stuffed the email into the glove box and closed it quickly, but quietly. I crouched down behind the seat, but all Kyle was doing was locking the door. "Let's go." He yelled.

I watched them slowly walk away, Daniel clearly the leader, being in front of all of them. They walked into the thick woods, and I lost sight of them pretty fast considering how thick it was. I waited for a few minutes, just to make sure they wouldn't come back. As I got out of the car, I noticed my surroundings a bit more. Their meeting place was a big dirt area, that was in a shape of a square. This square was surrounded by trees, except for a long dirt road leading out of it.

I decided to waste no more time, and went in the direction they went. I stepped through some palmetto bushes, which the thorns poked through my jeans, probably cutting me, but it didn't matter; I needed to find them fast.

When I finally got through the palmetto bushes, and got some thorns that were stuck in my jeans out, I started to jog , trying to catch up. My heart started to race, and the adrenaline started to pump through me like the last time I went through some woods. But these woods were different, the trees were closer together, more vines intertwined with each tree, and more roots made their way out of the ground. Occasionally I would stumble, but that never slowed me down, until a hard rock formed in the bottom of my throat, and my lungs were expanding faster then my body was used to. Thats when I knew my body was over the limit.

I quickly sat down, not caring whether I was sitting in an ant pile or sitting on a snake hole, I was to tired. I looked at my watch, which read 11:46, and looked up. The sun was obscured by the thick canopy of trees, and the occasional thick white cloud. Squirrels were jumping from tree to tree, chasing each other, probably playing 'tag'. Birds sang, forming melodies, and crickets joining in.

I rolled up my jeans, finding that the thorns really did go through, and sliced me. _I'll get over it. _My heart, and lungs were finally back to normal, so I could start my adventure again. As I started to walk, something inside of me told me to stop; so I did. I looked around and to the right of me, I noticed a purple ribbon tied to a tree. I slowly walked over to it, curious but still afraid, and touched it. It was a silky purple ribbon that was neatly tied, which was obviously here for a reason.

I looked up the tree, and saw nothing out of the ordinary, and looked down. Several pieces of clothing were placed in a pile next to the tree, and behind a bush. I slowly bent down and grabbed one piece of clothing at a time. _It can't be._ I held up the battered, and ripped blue t-shirt, that Daniel was wearing as his outfit today. I threw it to the side and picked up what seemed to be another t-shirt. It was black, just like the one that tough guy was wearing, but before, it wasn't ripped to shreds, now it was. I slowly walked away, terrified of what I just saw. _No...No...They couldn't be eaten by the wolves... they are to big, and to many of them._ I sat down, not very far away from the pile of clothes; and rested my head in my hands, which were placed on my knees.

_This can't be happening. _


	6. Close Call

**A.N.- You guys are lucky that I'm sick. :P So I had more time to write. **

**Well here yah go.**

**Please read and review! It will make me happy. **

**:D**

_

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_

_This can't be happening. _

I got up from where I was sitting, and started walking in a circle. _There arn't any other options. Either they're shredded to pieces, or, or, I don't know!_ I stopped in my tracks. A growl started to form behind me. _Haha, greeaatt.._ I turned around and it was like dejavu. But this time only one bear-wolf thing stood in front of me. It definitely wasn't one from before. This one had red, blondish hair, that shined beautifully whenever the sun shone on its fur. Its head was low to the ground, its piercing purple eyes never leaving me. Every time its long legs stepped closer, I stepped back, until something inside my head, told me to run.

I turned swiftly around on my heels, and bolted in the right direction. Not caring if he was following me or not, I was too horrified to look behind me. My arms were fully extended pushing trees limbs, and long vines out of the way. I made sure my feet wouldn't get caught in roots that sprouted out of the ground. But this time a root stuck out too far.

I felt my leg being pulled backward, and my head hitting the ground, almost hitting a near by root. For a few seconds the world started spin and go black, also everything happened so fast I forgot what I was running from, or even why I was running. But that didn't last long. I whipped my head around and saw the wolf far away, but I knew it saw me. It slowly walked towards me, but it didn't have the terrifying look on its face like usual, but that didn't mean I wasn't gunna run any more.

I got up and started to run in the same direction, this time I had the guts to look around. The wolf was still behind me but in a slow sprint. I turned back around and saw that I was near the palmetto bushes, that was blocking me from my freedom. I didn't care about the thorns, I just wanted to get back into the car, and go home. So with the thought of home in mind, I jumped, and pushed my whole body through the thorny bush. I could feel the palmettos, and the thorns from vines digging deep into my legs and arms, but I had no choice but to keep on going.

When I finally made it through, I ran to the car and jumped inside, locked the door and hid under the same jacket I did earlier. _I almost died... AGAIN! What if the wolf attacks the car? What if he actually gets in, and attacks me.. oh shut up Victoria. Jeezz now I'm talking to myself... great, I'm going crazy, again. I mean who h---_. I heard some mumbling outside. I crumpled up into a ball even more. _They're alive! They're alive! Oh thank--_ My thoughts were interrupted when the doors were unlocked and opened, and Kyles voice rang.

"I swear, if Brent really saw what he saw. I'm gunna kill her." He said through clenched teeth. He got into the passenger seat, followed by Daniel getting into the drivers seat.

"Kyle, calm down. Shes probably just sitting at home, watching T.V. Don't jump to conclusions. How would she be able to get here any ways?"_ Are they talking about me? And who's Brent?_

"She could have taken one of the five cars we have.." There was a moment of silence, until Kyle gave in. "Okay... maybe your right."

The whole ride home was in silence, which was making me crazy. But when we finally made it home, I patiently waited till they left the car. When they did, I slowly and quietly got up, pulling the jacket off of me. I peaked out the side window and watched them open the garage door, so I knew now was the time to get into the house. I opened the door farthest away from their view, and crawled out. I ran to the edge of the woods, as I did earlier, and ran. As I saw them make their way into the two- car garage I made my way to the side of the house.

As I ran along the side of the house I had one thought in mind. _Don't trip. Don't trip. Don't trip_. I couldn't afford losing time, expecially when they were expecting me to be 'watching T.V.' I finally made it to the back of the house and slid the glass doors open, and quietly snuck in. As I closed the door I looked at my watch and it read, 12:07. _The family shouldn't be home yet._ I looked towards the front of the house saw that Kyle and Daniel were on their way in. I made a quick decision and ran into the den, which was the room next to me. I took one of the books off of the shelf and sat in the computer chair and opened to a random page.

"Victoria! Where are you?" Kyle yelled.

I cleared my throat and expected for the worst. "In the den." I responded. I heard their loud foot steps on the wooden floor, walk closer towards the den and I prepared myself.

"What are you doing in here? This is Chris' room, nobodys allowed to be in here." Kyle said, while folding his arms.

"I was bored, and curious, so I came in here, and started to read these books." I said from the top of my head.

Daniel shrugged his shoulders and walked away, but I knew Kyle wasn't ready to give up.

Kyle raised an eyebrow. "Were you here all day?"

I shook my head 'yes'. But he insisted on continuing his childish game, and stood in the door way, staring me down. So I gave him the 'what do you want look?' It worked, and he walked away.

I blew out a big breath of air that I was holding in for a long time, and stood up. I looked down at my jeans, that were some what ripped, with spots of blood that appeared on the dark fabric.

_That was close.  
_


	7. Birthday

We all sat at the dinner table, enojying the nice meal Kelly made for us, and talked about school that was coming up in a couple of weeks, but I was to distracted to focus. I stared at my plate trying to focus on figuring out what happened today near their 'meeting place'. _How did that Brent guy see me? Maybe he was hiding! But why were their clothes ripped up? That cant be-- _

"Victoria, you there?" Daniel was waving his hand in front of my face.

"Sorry I was just thinking of something." I looked back down at my plate and started playing with my broccoli.

"Victoria, are you okay? You don't seem right." I looked up at Kelly, which she had a concerned look on her face.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just...tired." I noticed in the corner of my eye, that Kyle looked up from his plate and gave me a glare, but I ignored it. Kelly's concerned expression wiped off her face, and a her friendly smile appeared.

I looked a Daniel, afraid that he might be thinking the same thing Kyles thinking. But he smiled and asked, "Isn't it your seventeenth birthday tomorrow? Are you going to have a party?"

I froze.

A quick memory flashed through my head of my mother leaving me on my birthday. I haven't celebrated my birthday since then. _It's been ten years._

I felt my emotions grow inside of me, and the tears started to form in my eyes. _I can't cry in front of them. I just can't._ "May I be excused please, I'm not feeling well." I didn't wait for answer and got up from the table. As I walked away I heard them saying, "Did I say something wrong?", "No honey, you didn't. I think something happened on her birthday, that she doesn't like to remember."

I began to run up the stairs, so I couldn't hear them anymore._They don't know anything! And it will stay that way. _When I made it to my room, I closed and locked the door, but couldn't make it to my bed. I leaned up against the door, and my legs seemed too weak to hold me up, so I slid down the door, with my fists closed tightly. That's when the tears started to roll down my face, one after the other.

"Hey, open up." It was Daniel. I slowed my crying, but I was still too weak to get up and open the door.

"Please." He added.

"I don't want to talk right now." I muttered.

"Well I don't care what you think. You will feel better when you talk about it. Now open the door." Daniel said sternly.

I got up and opened the door, allowing him in. As he walked in, he had a smile on his face, telling me that he was here to help. I slowly walked over to my bed and sat down on the edge, and tried not to make eye contact. He walked right behind me and sat down in the computer chair, and faced me.

"Now, whats wrong?" He said followed by a sigh. _Well hmm, let's see. My mother ditched me on my birthday when I was seven. I have been to three different families. I live near woods that have some sort of bear-wolf things, and well... I'm going crazy..._

"Nothing." I lied. Daniel leaned towards me and tucked a piece of my brown wavy hair, behind my ear. I looked up towards him and a smile broke across his face, forcing me to smile back.

"Now tell me the truth, whats wrong?"

I gave in. "I don't like my birthday... because my mother left me on my seventh birthday." I said followed by a sigh.

Daniel's eyes narrowed and muttered, "I'm so sorry." Tears started to form in my eyes, which I could not hold in any longer. I never liked crying in front of people, but for some odd reason, Daniel was different. As I was crying Daniel leaned over and gave me a hug, which was just what I needed. "Thanks for being there for me." He got up, and wiped a tear away that escaped my eye.

"No problem." He muttered.

Daniel walked out of the room and closed the door behind him, and for the first time, I felt better after talking about my problems.

After a couple of hours of being in my room, and an occasional break-down, I decided to go down stairs and be with the family. Today was Thursday which ment board game night. Friday nights were taken up by trips to the town, grandparents house, or just a friends house, so they did it on Thursdays. As I was walking down the stairs, I could hear all of them laughing and joking around, which made me happy. _I am so lucky to finally have a wonderful family like this._ Memories began to form inside my head of the first family I went to. They had about eight adopted kids and three of their own, and the way they got money was the older kids would sell drugs to people. They would always threaten us, so none of us attempted to call the cops, until the newly adopted kid called the cops. So the whole process of finding a family, started all over again. As I reached the dining room, I was greeted by Abigail, one of the twins.

"Hi, Victoria. I haven't seen you in a while. Are you gunna play with us? If so you can be on my team." A smile stretched from ear to ear, so I couldn't resist.

I smiled. "Yeah sure, I'll be on your team." I looked around, and noticed everyone staring at me, so my cheeks started to get hot, and turn red. I lowered my head, because I was ashamed of the incident that happened earlier.

Abigail grabbed my hand and dragged me towards the table, seating me right next to her and Kyle. I looked at Kyle and smiled, and I got no response back from him, so I looked away quickly.

_All right then._

The sun shining through my green curtains was my alarm this morning. I sat on the edge of my bed and stretched, forced a yawn, and recalled what happened last night, which was so much fun. We played until Abigail and Andrew were asleep on the dining room table. _I definantly don't feel like getting up today._ I searched for my slippers with my feet, but gave up pretty quickly, and got up and walked over to my door and walked out in the hallway. I looked up towards the wall clock and it read, 8:22 am. As I took a deep breath I began to notice something was in the air. _Bacon._ My stomach started to rumble, telling me that it was time to eat. I walked slowly down the hallway and down the stairs, and heard the family wispering. I was confused because usually they would wake me up, also what was different was that they werent their normal loud selves. I quietly walked towards the dining room, and peaked behind the corner. Andrew looked towards me but quickly turned away. I looked around and everyone had thier head down, eating. I walked in and slowly sat down, giving a confused glance at everyone, but I got no looks from anybody, so I ignored it and pulled off the metal cover that was covering my plate, and something was written on my pancake. It read _**Happy birthday.**_ As I read it, everyone yelled 'Happy Birthday', and pulled balloons out from under the table. My stomach cringed, but I couldn't help myself from smiling.

"Wow, this--this is, awesome. Thank you guys so much." I really did appreciate what they have done for me. Even though I swore to myself that I would never recognize my birthday ever againn, I just totally ignored that thought during this moment.

"Well it was all Daniel's idea. He really thought you deserved a good birthday breakfast." Kelly replied.

I smiled, saying thank you, and everyone got back to eating. _This day is going to be a good day._

After breakfast, I went to my room to get out of my pajamas. As I walked into my room I noticed something laying on my bed. So I looked closer, and saw that it was a new shirt and jeans, also some jewelery and flip flops. The shirt was green, with dark green stars and hearts all over it, and the jeans were a dark color. The jewelry that was laying next to it were a pair of green stud earrings and the flip flops were also green, with black hearts on them. I opened up a card that was laying next to the out fit, and it said, 'Happy seventeenth birthday Victoria. We wanted to give you a new outfit for the thing thats going on down stairs. So take a shower and get dressed and hurry down. Love, The Family.' I got excited and quickly ran to the bathroom and took a shower. I put on my make up, light green eye shadow, and black eyeliner, and fixed my dark wavy brown hair. I slipped on my new outfit, and it fit perfectly. As I walked towards the door, I noticed my reflection in the mirror. _I look just like her._ I stepped towards the long mirror getting a better look at myself. My facial features were the same as my mothers, and my hair was the same dark brown, and wavy. _I may look like her, but I will never __be__ like her._

I stood in front of the mirror staring at myself, until I realized that I was supposed to be down stairs. Instant butterflies crept into my stomach, and my heart started to race. I cracked my door and peaked out, afraid of what was down the hallway. When I saw nothing I tiptoed into the hallway and slowly walked towards the stairs. As I got closer I walked up to the banister and peaked down, and there was nothing. _Hmm.._ I slowly walked down the stairs, straining to hear anything, if something was actually going on, but I heard nothing. I peaked behind the corner, and saw nobody in the dining room. So I walked towards the living room, and nobody was there either.

"Hello!? Is anybody here?" I yelled.

Kelly walked out from behind a corner, "There you are, we're all waiting for you." She grabbed my hand and pulled me around the corner and we stood in front of a closet.

"Close your eyes." I gave her a concerned look, and she sighed and covered my eyes with her hand. We walked a little bit and I heard the sliding glass door being opened, and she lead me outside.

"Now... Look!" She took her hand off of my eyes, and everyone yelled "Happy birthday!" I looked around and the whole family was standing in front of me, with party hats on, and behind them were streamers and balloons tied to chairs, and an enormous cake, which was green.

I couldn't stop from smiling, and my cheeks started to hurt; I was speechless. Abigail walked up to me and she had a gift in her hand.

"Open it." I ripped the wrapping paper and what was hiding behind the paper was a painted green rock with 'Happy birthday Victoria.' on it. I flipped it around and it had on it 'Love Abigail and Andrew.'

"Me and Andrew made it. We remembered your favorite color was green." She said with a smile.

"I love it. Thank you. And thank you everybody for doing this for me." They all muttered 'your welcome' and went off, doing their own things. Kyle and Daniel went inside the house, Abigail and Andrew went and played ball out in the yard. Faith walked over to the Hammock that was in between two huge trees, and Kelly and Chris were talking to each other. So I walked over to the table and sat down, exhausted from last night, and I closed my eyes. But I opened them as I heard the sliding glass door being opened. Kyle and Daniel walked out and three other guys were walking right behind them. It took me a few seconds to realize that it were the same guys that I saw yesterday.

"Mike...Brent...Caleb. I haven't seen you boys in forever!" Kelly walked over to them, and hugged each one.

"Nice to see you Mrs. Blaine." The black haired one said. He looked in my direction and friendly smile appeared on his face. So I smiled back. He walked towards me and my heart started to race.

"You must be Victoria. Daniel and Kyle has talked so much about you."

"Yeah... I am. Well I'm sure everything that Kyle has said are bad things about me" I laughed.

"Haha, yes. By the way, I'm Mike." The red haired one walked over to us, with Kyle right by him.

"Hi Victoria, I'm Brent." He held out his hand, and I shook it. "And him back there, is Caleb." I shook my head to indicate that I understood.

"Nice to meet you." I smiled once again, and I looked down at my feet. I just couldn't look at them straight in the eye, until Caleb came up to us.

"Happy Birthday. We all got you something." He handed me a box, that was small enough to fit in my palm. I opened it pretty quickly knowing they were all watching me, which I didn't like. I pulled the top off of the box, and what was in it was a pretty gold necklace, and attached to it was a green stone in the shape of a heart.

"Hope you like it." said Daniel. "We all chipped in to get this."

"I love it! It so pretty." I looked up towards Mike, Brent and Caleb. "You guys didn't have to get me anything. You didn't even know me."

"Well we felt wrong coming to a birthday party with out a gift. And besides, Daniel and Kyle have talked so much about you, its like we knew you." Mike replied.

I put the necklace on and heard Kelly, "Wow, look at that. Isn't that pretty. You want to blow the candles out now?"

I paused, and soaked up the moment.

_This is the best birthday __ever_

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**I really wanted to show how close the family is in this chapter.**

**And hopefully I did it well.**

**But thank you to the people who are reviewing, it means alot. **

**So review some more. **

**:D**

**I'll be updating pretty soon. I have been camping so I have had alot of time to write.**

**So get excited.**


	8. A Secret

After the party, Daniel and his 'gang', me and Kyle all sat and watched Americas Funniest home Videos. We were watching some dork, ride a skateboard down a hill, on his stomach, and running into a car. 

"What an idiot. I mean seriously. I can't believe there are people like that." Caleb said.

I laughed.

I became thirsty and got up from the couch to get a drink from the kitchen. I stepped over Brent that was lying on the floor, and dodged a pillow that came from Kyle, that was sitting across the room.

"Missed me." I muttered.

When I made it to the kitchen, I turned on the light and got a cup. Thats when I felt like someone was watching me. I turned around and standing in the doorway was Mike.

I sighed in relief. "Jeez Mike, you scared me."

"Oh sorry, I didn't mean to." He walked to the refrigerator and got a Gatorade out.

"So how do you like it here?"

"Its great. Compared to my other families, here, I'm living in a castle and with a royal family." We both laughed.

Then there was an akward silence, which Mike broke.

"So I heard you went out in the woods?" He asked. I was confused on why he was bringing this up.

"Yeah, it was like a week ago." I replied.

"Daniel told me that they found you sleeping next to a tree. I bet you were pretty scared. I heard you saw bears."

My eyes narrowed. "Yeah... I was.. But to tell you the truth, they weren't bears."

He gave me questioning look.

I laughed. "It's stupid. It's probably my imagination."

"No, please, tell me."

I gave in. "Well they were like--like bear-wolves, or something. They were wolves but their legs were long and their bodies were big too. They were freaky." I felt stupid.

"Interesting." _Interesting.. that's all you can say?_

"Don't laugh but do you know what werewolves are?" I sat there, almost wanting to burst out laughing, but I didn't, just to save him from embarrassment. Instead I shook my head 'yes' and turned around and started to pour tea into my cup.

"Do you know what we are?" He asked, in a hushed tone.

I turned around, confused on what he was talking about. "What do you mean?"

"We're werewo--"

Daniel walked in, interrupting Mike. "Mike what are you doing?" Daniel was almost yelling.

"I thought that maybe we should tell her." Daniel grabbed Mikes arm and started to lead him out of the kitchen, but I wasn't going to let this go. So I stepped in.

"Hey, I don't think so. You are going to tell me whats going on!"

Daniel gave a quick, mean glance towards Mike, and lead him back into the kitchen. "Kyle, Brent, and Caleb get into the kitchen now, please." He yelled. Then he pointed to a chair, telling me to sit, and I did.

After a couple minutes Kyle, Brent, and Caleb all walked in with concerned look on their faces.

Kyle was the first to ask, "What's going on?"

I looked around and they started to exchange looks, and shake their heads. _Clearly I'm missing something._ I ignored it, and started to feel kind of akward with five, 6'4, muscular guys standing around me.

"Okay Tori, whatever we tell you right now, may not make sense, and you may not believe it, but please... give us a chance." Daniel said.

My heart started to race, and I began to freak out, and afraid of what they were going to tell me.

Daniel sighed and finally said, "We're werewolves."

I began to laugh, not wanting to, but uncontrollbly. _Crap._

They all did their look exchanges, and started to look ticked off.

"Im so sor-- so sorry. Haha. I can-- I just cant help it." Now I was at the stage of the giggles, you know the kind of laugh were your just laughing at yourself for laughing...? Yeah, I was at that stage, just ten times worse.

_Shut up Tori! Get a hold of yourself, they might eat you. _I started to laugh again at that thought, but my laugh slowed down to a few chuckles, and finally slowed. When I wiped the tears from my eyes I noticed Kyle with his arms folded and with a ticked off look on his face, and Daniel trying to look ticked off, but I could see he was hiding a smile.

I cleared my throat. "Sorry." I muttered again. "So.. umm your werewolves."

Kyle stepped in. "Yes we are. And you remember that day that you went out in to the woods?" I shook my head 'yes'.

"Yeah.. Well that black haired wolf, that was Mike. And with him, with the light brown hair, was Caleb. Then later when those two other wolves that saved your butt, was me and Daniel."

The memory of that day crept into my head, and a shiver ran up my spine, creating goosebumps.

I gulped. "You mean, that was you guys?"

They all shook their heads except Brent. He clearly wasn't there that day.

Then thats when it hit me. Mike has black hair, and when hes a wolf his hair is black, and the same with the others. So that means that Brent was the one who found me in the woods yesterday. A picture of a red haired wolf chasing me, was being viewed inside my head.

"So thats why yesterday, I found all of your clothes ripped up next to that tree." I muttered to myself, not noticing I wasn't thinking this when I should have been. I closed my eyes and hit my self on the forehead. _Good job Tori. Now your definitely grounded for about 2 weeks._

I opened my eyes, and saw Kyle with his arms still folded with one eye brow up, with a look that could kill. Then I looked at Daniel that had his dark eye brows up, in shock, and he began to fold his arms also. _Whats with men folding their arms when their mad?_

"Haha, yeah.. about that. I kinda snuck into your car, when you were going to 'town', and followed you into the woods."

Kyle's arms flew into the air, as he said to Daniel , "See I told you!"

"Sorry. I just didn't feel like watching T.V. that day. I wanted to see why you guys were going into town so much." I said with and ashamed tone.

"Well you know that were gunna have to tell Kelly and Chris, right?" Daniel said.

"Ugh, yeah...but enough about that, I wanna see you turn into a 'werewolf'." I said with a mischievous smile. They looked at each other, muttering things to themselves. _Com'on Com'on._

"Sure.""Yes.""No." I looked at Daniel, who said 'no'.

"I think it will be to much for you. We have already told you to much, and Kelly and Chris didn't want you to know about it."

"Kelly and Chris knew about it?" I asked.

"Yeah, they knew before they adopted us." Kyle said.

"Okay, that's enough. It's already 9:30 pm. Kelly and Chris wanted everybody to go home at 9:00." Daniel added. Mike walked out first followed by everybody else. I sat there recalling everything that was talked about, and I was overwhelmed.

When everyone left, it took me awhile to get back to reality. Daniel walked back into the kitchen, this time, without Kyle.

"You should go to your room till Kelly and Chris come home."

"What?"

"You should go to your room till Kelly and Chris come home." He repeated.

"Huh?" _He's not in charge of me._

"Me and Kyle are in charge of the house when they're gone."

"Who?" Now I was just playing with him.

"Go." He pointed towards the door of the kitchen, as Kyle walked in.

"Let me guess, you are the father and Kyles the mother." I said while heading towards the door. Kyle tried to grab me but my walking quickly turned into a run.

As I was walking up the stairs I stopped as I heard Kyle and Daniel talking.

"We told her to much." I think that was Daniel.

"Yeah, well we were gunna tell her sometime. I don't think she believes us anyways."

I didn't feel like listening anymore, I was getting exhausted. When I was walking in the hallway I paused when I was near Faith's door. She was talking to someone on the phone.

"Tomorrow, Josh is gunna ask you out. I saw it." Faith said. _Saw it?_

"You know...Yes!" _This is boring. Gosh, I'm such a nosey person._

I slowly walked to my room and when I made it, I opened the door and my room was pitch black. So I reached for the switch and turned on the light. As I looked around, I noticed that my door-windows were opened. _Hmm, that's odd. I don't remember opening them._

I walked over and started to close it, but a dark figure caught my eye, so I walked out onto the large balcony.

"Psst." The dark figure said.

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	9. Surprise

I slowly walked to my room and when I made it, I opened the door and my room was pitch black. So I reached for the switch and turned on the light. As I looked around, I noticed that my doors were opened. _Hmm, that's odd. I don't remember opening them._

I walked over and started to close it, but a dark figure caught my eye, so I walked out onto the large balcony.

"Psst." The dark figure said.

I turned around and ran towards the door but it was shut by another dark figure.

"Victoria, chill its me Mike." A flash light carried by Mike was turned on and held towards his face.

My heart was racing, and I felt like I was about to pass out, so I breathed in and out, slowly.

"Bu-But who-who's that?" I stammered. He laughed.

"It's Caleb." My heart relaxed a little.

"What the hell are you doing up here? If Daniel or Kyle saw you guys up here, they would kill you." I whispered.

"You said you wanted to see us change into a werewolf didn't you?"

"Daniel said no. He'll get mad."

"Well if you don't tell him you saw us, then he won't know." The corners of his mouth slide into a mischievous smile.

Caleb joined in the conversation.

"Maybe we should'nt. Daniel probably _would_ kill us, and she could get hurt." My head snapped back towards Mike and I shook my head.

"Ha ha, that's a _no_ for me." I started reaching towards the door handle and Mike grabbed my arm.

"It will be quick. Just so you know how we do it." I paused, and really thought about it. _Daniel will kill me. Kelly and Chris could be home any minute... But I really do want to see how they change._

"Fine. But do it quickly." I went for the door handle again, and Mike grabbed my arm again.

"We can't go that way." I remembered that we were on the second floor, and so I gave him a confused look. He laughed, and picked me up bridal style. My look turned from confused to shocked to worried.

"Please don't tell me your gunna jump." I said.

"Don't worry. Were graceful." He said with a smile spreading across his face. He started to walk so I closed my eyes. I felt my stomach jump into my throat, which meant we were jumping, then we landed with a small thud. As I opened my eyes, Mike started to put me down.

"Follow me." Mike started to walk off into the woods, with Caleb followed right behind him. I walked behind them. No it was more like I was _jogging_ behind them. Their long legs had me jogging after them. But after 'jogging' awhile and almost tripping, which they made fun of me for, they stopped in a big opening.

I looked up, and the full moon was shining brightly down on the perfectly shaped 'O' field, which was surrounded by tall trees. Thats when a chill ran up my spine. _This was where I saw Mike and Caleb._ With that thought, I began to shiver uncontrollably. Mike walked over from talking to Caleb and started to laugh.

"Are you cold, in this eighty degree weather?" He laughed at his joke.

"No, I'm just thinking of something." His eyes narrowed, and he frowned.

"Your thinking of the first time we met." I shook my head 'yes'. _And you trying to kill me..._

"Well I didn't know you were a part of the Blaine family." He said with shrug.

"Yeah whatever." I muttered to myself. There was a long pause, but he finally broke the silence.

"Well Caleb is probably going to be the one to change, and I won't, just in case you freak out." He held up one finger, telling me to wait a minute, and he walked over to Caleb. They talked a little, and I was to far away to hear, so I dazed off.

I began to think of the last time I hung out with my childhood best friend. I just could'nt remember his name. But on the last day we hung out, we woke up at five in the morning and got a whole bunch of junk food, comic books, candy, and games, and we stayed up in our tree house, till midnight. Then he moved.

Mike interrupted my trip down memory lane, and said, "You ready to go?" I shook my head 'yes', and waited for him to tell me what to do.

"Okay, just stay here and watch. I'll be right behind you." Mike then walked behind me and stood there. I closely watched Caleb, trying not to miss anything, and my heart started to race once again. .

"He's changing now." I squinted my eyes, seeing if that would help me see a little better, but then a flashlight held by Mike turned on and it shone on Caleb. When I finally got the chance to look at him, I noticed that his hands and feet have already turned into large paws, with sharp nails. His head tilted back and he began to get fur and started to form into a wolf like face, long nose, big, light colored eyes, pointy ears...and the sharp...teeth. Then, fur started to spread across his body and his clothes started to rip which was when he got on all fours and a tail appeared.

"Whoa." I muttered.

Mike laughed. "Whoa is all you can say?" I shook my head 'yes'. I couldn't take my eyes off of Caleb. He was so.. _interesting_. The flashlight shone on his pretty blonde fur, and when the flashlight wasn't on his fur, the moonlight was beautifully shining on it also. Since I was so into his pretty fur, I didn't notice Caleb walking towards me, so I took a step back. A firm hand landed on my shoulder and pushed me forward.

"He won't bite." I closed my eyes, because I was a little scared. I opened one eye, and Caleb was sitting there in front of me, just staring. That's when Mike pushed me closer.

"Pet him. Don't worry, we can control ourselves from biting humans." He laughed, which apparently that was funny to him. I walked a little closer to him, and reached towards his head. I felt his soft fur in between my fingers. Caleb closed his eyes, obviously enjoying it, which made me giggle. As I was petting him, his eyes opened and his ears perked up.

"We have to go." Mike said. I opened my mouth to say something but he picked me up bridal style again and started to run. I crossed my arms to show that I was upset, and he noticed.

"You would be too slow."

"Why are we in a rush?" I asked.

"Kelly and Chris are home."

I gasped. "How did you know that?"

"We're werewolves, we have great hearing." He said with a smile. During that moment, I forgot about Caleb, so I peaked around Mikes shoulder and saw Caleb following right behind him, with his hair flowing in the wind. When I turned back around we were next the house, so Mike slowed his pace and put me down.

Mike crouched down, which practically made him my height, and I did the same. We ran towards the back of the house, crawling under every window. When we finally made it to the other side, Mike pointed to the fence vine thing that was going up the wall, and reaching my balcony. I looked back at him with a crazy expression, and he laughed quietly, and waved 'bye'. I mouthed the words 'thanks' and waved bye back. As I started to climb the fence thing, he went straight into the woods, again. _Such an odd person._ When I made it into the balcony I ran towards the door and ran inside, shutting the door behind me. I plopped down on the bed and grabbed a book that was laying on my bed side table. I didn't even read one sentence when Kelly and Chris knocked on the door.

"Come on, in." I yelled.

Kelly peaked her head in, and walked in, followed by Chris. I sat up, and prepared myself for what was coming. Kelly sat down on the edge of the bed, and Chris sat at the desk, but faced towards me and Kelly.

"Daniel told us what you did yesterday." Kelly said.

"Yeah.. and I'm sorry. I was just bored, and I was curious on why they were going to town so much." I started to fidget with my blanket, not wanting to make eye contact.

"Your grounded from going outside for one week." Chris said, instantly.

_I knew it. _"But my curiosity got the best of me. Also, It's my birthday. I should at least only get the t.v. taken away for a week. I can't stand not going out side, I went crazy last time." I pleaded. Chris held up his finger telling me to stop.

"Fine. No t.v. for a week. But if we hear you leaving the house with out our permission then you'll be grounded from going outside for another week." _Score!_

Chris got up from where he was sitting, and before walking out the door he said "Happy birthday." Kelly sat there looking at me, and smiled.

"I hope you had a good birthday." She got up and kissed me on the forehead, and smiled. "Goodnight." she muttered.

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	10. Campfire Stories

**Thank you all for writing a review. It made me really happy and it inspired me to write faster.**

**Also, sorry about not updating sooner, I have been extremely busy, and I still am, but I'll update faster this time.**

**: Enjoy.**

* * *

Time seemed to go by so slow without t.v. I looked at the clock that was hanging on the wall and it read, 9:30 am. I sat in front of the t.v. just staring into it, which reminded me of one of my old families. When the parents said we couldn't go outside, watch t.v., practically do nothing, we would sit in front of the t.v. just staring into it. Which when we noticed our reflection, we eventually came up with a way to entertain ourselves; we made our own shows. But I wasen't _that_ bored, to where I would do something like _that_. 

I sat there staring at my reflection in their huge flat screen t.v. I listened to the sound of the clock, upon the wall. _Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock._

I groaned. _I'm sooo bored._

"Wow. Are you that bored?" Daniel walked up from behind me and sat next to me on the couch.

"Yeah, just a little bit." I said, followed by a sigh. Daniel's dark hair wasn't spiked up like normal, and he had dark grey circles under his hazel eyes. For a while, until he noticed, I just sat there and stared at him.

"Do I have something on my face?" He reached up and wiped his face.

I laughed. "No, you don't. You just look really tired."

"Nah. I may look tired, but I'm not." I didn't believe him, so I raised one eyebrow.

"Really. I'm not." I sighed, and just started to stare at the t.v. screen again.

"Would you want to come with me and Kyle, over to Mikes place?" My head snapped in his direction.

"Are you serious? When?"

"In a couple minutes, so get dressed." Daniel got up and walked in the direction of the kitchen. I followed him, but went up the stairs instead. I walked quickly, but I made sure I picked up my feet, so I didn't trip. When I made it to my room, I went straight to my dresser and pulled out a pair of jean shorts, a blue _yeah, no green _star t-shirt, and got out a pair of socks. I slipped everything on, including my shoes with an amazing speed and went into the bathroom to put some foundation on, and some eye-liner. I put my messy, wavy brown hair in a pony tail, and quickly ran to the door.

"Tori, were leaving!" Daniel yelled from down stairs.

I ran down the stairs as quickly as I could, almost tripping, and hoped Daniel didn't change his mind because I took so long. I reached the front door, and walked out into the blinding sun, which hit my eyes like a ton of bricks. My arm immediately blocked the sun from my eyes but it took me a while to finally get adjusted, and I knew I will be seeing spots for the next few hours. As I took in the usual deep breath like I always did when I walked outside, somebody came up from behind me and picked me up. I turned around and saw Kyle's smiling face. I tried to wiggle out of his tight grip, but his arms didn't seem to budge.

"Let go." I started to hit his arms, and he began to laugh.

"I'll kick your butt." I said through clenched teeth.

"Yeah, you wish." He tightened his grip harder, which his arm was right on my tickle spot, so I started to giggle.

"Pl-Please. Ha ha, Stop."

"What's wrong with you." My giggling started to make him laugh. _That's it. _I pulled my right foot forward and brought it back, hoping that I was going to bring it back on his leg, but it sort of went in his "forbidden zone". He immediately dropped me, and I gasped.

"Oh. My. Goodness. I'm so sorry." I tried not to let out a laugh, but I couldn't help it. He was kneeling on the ground, and was breathing heavily. Daniel walked out the front door, and froze in his tracks.

He closed his eyes. "Please tell me you didn't..."

"I didn't mean to, he wouldn't...let go." Daniel still had his eyes closed and sighed.

After a minute of Kyle breathing heavily, he started, and tried to talk.

"I'm..." He took another deep breath.

"Going...to...kill...you." I yelped like a dog, and turned quickly on my heels, and bolted for the car.

"Open up the car Daniel, I'm too young to die!" I yelled while running.

"He's not going to kill you." He yelled back.

As I was running, it felt like I was going no where. The car was at the end of the driveway, which the driveway is just too long.

"Open up, Open up!" As I reached the car, I ran to the passenger side and screamed "Shotgun!", and opened it up. I quickly got in and locked the doors. _Whew, that was close._ I looked in Daniel's and Kyle's direction and Daniel was helping Kyle walk over to the car. As they got closer, I noticed how Kyle never got his eyes off of me. His look wasen't friendly either. Daniel opened the drivers side door and Kyle came over to my door.

"You sit in the back." He said.

"I called 'shotgun' first." I replied.

"You want shotgun? I shoot you with one." He said with a fierce tone.

I gulped.

Daniel laughed, "Go in the back."

I turned around and climbed over the seat and got in the back. _I'm not stepping outside this car, with that thing out there._ Kyle slowly got in, without saying a word, so I decided to be the bigger and better person and say something, but something simple. "Sorry."

I waited for his reply, and finally after a few seconds to long, he said, "Yeah, Yeah."

The car ride was just too quiet, and I hate _too quiet._ So I started to whistle the tune, 'Twinkle Twinkle, little star.' It was the first song that popped in my head. _Twinkle, Twinkle, little star. How I wonder--_

"Shut up." Kyle muttered.

I crossed my arms, and grunted.

"Don't worry Tori, were almost there." I looked at Daniel's reflection in his rear-view mirror, and he smiled.

I looked out the window, and I watched houses sporadically appear throughout the woods, which I haven't seen a house in a _long_ time. We started to turn down this long dirt driveway that was like ours. At the end of the long driveway, towards the back of the woods was a house that looked the same as ours, porch going around the house, white with blue trimmings, but it was smaller.

"Were here." Daniel parked the car in front of the house, and got out followed by Kyle, but I didn't attempt to get out of the car. I didn't feel right at the moment, it felt like I had a huge rock in the pit of my stomach, and I knew the reason why.

_I still went out and saw Caleb turn into a werewolf when Daniel told me not to. _

Mike walked out of the house, waving to Daniel and Kyle and started to talk but I couldn't understand, so I stepped out of the car with a smile, hiding the fact that I was sick to my stomach.

"Hi Victoria." Mike was waving, and I waved back. He got back to the conversation that they were having.

I didn't know what to do, I just didn't want to walk right into his house without them. So I stood there, looking around and noticed that at the edge of the woods was a gravestone, and next to it was what seemed to be freshly cut sunflowers. I became curious, like always, and walked over to see who it was. I crouched down next to it so I could clearly read it, which it read:

**R.I.P**

**(1984-2004)**

**Josh Raymond**

**Great brother, friend, and son**

**We will always remember you**

"He was a werewolf too." I jumped at the sound of Mike's voice, from behind me. I stood up next to him, and held back tears.

"What happened, if you don't mind me asking?" I was whispering.

"A _jerk_ killed him, because of what he was." Mike cleared his throat, and I knew he was holding back tears. I looked up and his black hair was in his face, but I could still see the pain he was hiding through his partially covered brown eyes.

"Are you his brother?" I said whispering again. I just couldn't talk, it felt like I had something stuck in the back of my throat.

"No, he didn't have any brothers. Me, Daniel, Kyle, and Caleb, we were all his brothers... well, from different mothers." He closed his eyes and sighed. "We promised that we would always be there for each other, and we weren't there for him." He whispered. I couldn't look at him anymore, and I felt like I needed to say something, but I really didn't know what to say. Luckily, Daniel called from the front porch, telling us to come inside. I didn't want him to feel like I didn't care, so I turned towards him and gave him a hug, which he accepted and hugged me back.

"I'm so sorry." I whispered. He put his arm around me and led me to his house. As we reached the house, Daniel walked inside, and Mike stopped me. His black side-swiped hair wasen't in front of his dark brown eyes like before, and I began to noticed how he had the same dark circles, as Daniel did.

"Hey. You're a good kid." Mike smiled, which forced a smile to spread across my face. He turned on his heels, walked up the steps and walked in the house. I took a deep breath, and followed Mike through the front door.

The house had the same layout, but everything was more laid back. His furniture wasen't as elegant as Kelly's, it had more of a college dorm feel than a castle feeling. I looked over to the left where the family room was and saw Kyle and Daniel sitting on the couch, with Caleb sitting in a small chair in the corner, they were all watching college football, but Brent was quietly on the other side of the room reading a book. Mike came from the kitchen behind me with a drink in his hand.

"You can sit if you want." I nodded, and he walked over to join them. I turned and saw photos hanging on the wall. Placed in a white picture frame was a nice, formal picture of all four of them, Mike, Daniel, Caleb, and Kyle, in suits and in the corner of the picture it read _2007_. Then hanging next to it, in a brown frame, was a picture of five young teenagers wrestling in mud, which I could clearly tell who was who, but there was one kid who I didn't recognize. _Josh._ I frowned, and decided to join the mayhem so I could get my mind off of everything.

After the long and _boring_ game(s), yes, 3 games, (which none of them I watched, I slept) we all decided to go outside and sit around the fire pit that was placed in the middle of Mike's backyard. We sat ourselves on the soft grass around the orange flames, that trailed up towards the dark sky. It was nice outside, not too hot, and not to cold. It was perfect. After a few minutes of sitting on the ground, we just sat there and stared at the fire, not knowing what to talk about. That's when I got the nerve to ask them about their past.

"How did you guys meet each other... and become... werewolves?" I questioned, quietly.

They exchanged looks, all of them looking eager to tell me their stories.

Mike stated, "We might be here a while." They all laughed, as Daniel began. "All of our mothers and fathers were werewolves, which means, we were born as werewolves. I don't remember alot about my parents, they left me when I was two."

Caleb joined in, "Our parents, me and Kyle's--" _I didn't know they were brothers,_ I thought. "_--_ killed by-- were killed in a tragic accident. I remember alot about them, luckily Kyle doesn't."

Daniel chimed in again, "The five of us were all six at the time, except Caleb he was ten, and we were sent to a special boys school, it's not a typical school either. It was place were they trained, and cared for werewolves that was either neglected, or their parents was just too busy and too rich to even care for them, like Mike's parents." I looked towards Mike, which he was looking towards the ground, and moving his head up and down; agreeing. "Also for werewolves who just needed to escape their family like--" Daniel's head lowered, "Like Josh's family." He whispered.

There was an awkward pause, but Caleb decided to break it and finish. "We all became acquainted when we were all roomed together and found out we all had the same interests. We became like brothers, we had classes together, we trained together, we even did sports together." He chuckled, "We even promised that when we became older we would still be like brothers. So here we are now." I looked around and everyone had a smile on their face, except Brent.

"What about Brent?"

Brent looked up from his book and towards my direction. "I just joined two weeks ago." He looked down towards his book and began reading again.

"What do you mean by joined? You mean like, a club?" I asked.

Daniel laughed, "No, we have this thing going on. Our group, just helps out people that are in need. They call Mike, and Mike calls us."

"Oh."

I had so many questions to ask and they were all running through my head, but I didn't want them to be overwhelmed, so I picked and chose the best questions.

"How did you and Kyle become part of the family?"

Kyle decided to answer this one, "They were teachers at the school, and they decided to adopt. They came up to us one day and told us that they were really interested in me, Caleb and Daniel. Daniel and I agreed but Caleb was eighteen at the time and he thought he was too old. So we were adopted a couple of days later, and we moved to California, which didn't last long, and we moved back here into the home were living in now."

My head began to get things jumbled up, so a headache started to form, but I had to ask one more question.

"What about Faith?"

"She was adopted three years after we were adopted." Kyle explained.

"No... See, there's more to her than just that. She's so-- just so, _different_."

Kyle and Daniel exchanged a look.

I knew they were hiding something, so I glared at them, hoping they would tell me.

"What." Kyle snapped.

"Your hiding something from me, and I'd like to know. I'm part of this family too." I could just feel the awkwardness in the air, and I knew people weren't enjoying this part of the conversation.

Kyle looked towards the ground, and started to poke at the fire which wasen't more than a small flame. Daniel just stared at me, with blank eyes, hopefully thinking of what to say.

I crossed my arms, to tell them that I was becoming impatient, and Daniel noticed and gave in.

"Faith is..." He paused.

"Faith is, what you call-- a psychic."

My arms fell onto my lap, and my jaw dropped. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I looked around, _Are they going crazy like me?_ But everyone was looking at me, waiting for me to say something, but I was so dumb-struck.

"You mean like--" I couldn't finish a sentence, so I took a deep breath in.

"You mean, she can tell the future or something?" Everyone nodded their head, and my jaw dropped again. I put my head into my hands, and tried not to freak out.

_This can't be. How can someone see the future?... Well how can someone change into a werewolf? Okay, I'm seriously going crazy... Or maybe-- I'm dreaming..._

"Your not dreaming." Kyle said.

_He just read my mind! _I snapped my head in his direction and gave him a confused look.

"How did you--" I couldn't take it anymore. To many weird things were going on, and I had the biggest headache _ever._

"Okay, I can't ask anymore questions. If I do, my head might explode." They all laughed in unison, like usual, and I got up from where I was standing. I looked down towards the fire, and kicked some dirt onto it.

"I think it's time to go." I looked at Daniel, which he nodded. "Yeah, it's almost ten." He said while getting up.

Everyone followed and slowly walked towards the house, mumbling stuff I couldn't understand. My head was just pounding and I didn't care, I just wanted to go home.

_I need __alot__ of sleep._

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**I hope you guys liked it. I wanted to put how they became friends, and stuff.**

**You will learn more about Faith, and other stuff in the next chapter. :**

**Review please.**

**Thanks again!**


	11. Too late

**Well once again it took forever, and I'm so so so sorry for that. I haven't been wanting to write. But I'm over that now. So heres a new chapter. Hope you enjoy. Read and review.**

**:D**

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They sky was unusually dark, grey clouds covered up the bright sun, and a fog surrounded me, making it hard to see. Trees were arms length away from each other, and it's branches were thick, which made it hard to maneuver through them. I didn't know why I was here, or how I got here, but something in the back of my head was telling me that it wasn't safe. I turned around a couple of times, making sure that there was nothing around me that was ready to pounce on me and kill me. I was becoming extremely paranoid, and started to panic. I began to run through the thick woods, pushing branches out of the way, pulling vines out of my way. I didn't know what direction I was going in, or where I was going, but something inside me told me to run. 

When I got to the point of exhaustion, I slowed down and seated myself on the wet ground next to a thick bush. I breathed in deeply, trying to slow my heart rate down so I could start running again. I was still in the paranoid state of mind, and closely heard every sound that was being made. I heard birds chirping occasionally, and cracks of thunder from a far away storm, but something really caught my attention. It wasn't birds chirping or thunder, it sounded alot like someone talking. I looked around and saw nothing that looked like a human. I looked towards the tops of the trees, looking for anything out of the ordinary, but saw nothing.

I heard it again, someone talking, but I heard it better than before. _Which means their coming closer._ I began to panic and decided not to run, but to look around to find this person. There was one other direction that I haven't looked before. _Behind me._ I slowly turned my head, and body slightly, and peaked over the small bush. Standing there before me in a small open field with his back to me, was a young boy about my age. He wore all black which matched his black hair, and made his skin a snowy white. He didn't move, he seemed to be focused on one thing, which I could not figure out.

I squinted my eyes, hoping that it would help me see what this young boy was looking at, but the fog seemed to have gotten thicker. I closed my eyes and listened very closely, thinking that maybe I would be able to hear something. That's when I heard a low growl. My eyes flew open, and I looked in the direction of the boy. In front of him was a dark shadow that was making its way through the fog. As I looked closer, it didn't seem to be a human figure, but a dog like figure. The young boy crouched down into an attack stance, which scared me. Making its way through the fog was a wolf, but bigger, with it's sharp teeth in full view, it's eyes were piercing.

I gasped. _A werewolf._

The werewolf's head was low to the ground, ready to attack. But the young boy seemed to be prepared for what ever the wolf was going to do.

"You won't be able to kill me." Said the young boy. _He's talking to a werewolf..._

He laughed. "They won't help you. They are too busy with other things."

"Can't I just kill you now?" The young boy began to run, but the light brown wolf seemed to be too fast, and appeared behind him.

"Oh, so you want to play games." The young boy turned towards the wolf, and was gone in a flash. _Where did he go?_ In a split second, the wolf was flying through the air and was pinned up against the tree.

"I like this game." The young boy threw the wolf across the other side of the small field, which the wolf slammed up against a tree. As the wolf laid there, the boy seemed satisfied that he has won, and began walking off but the wolf didn't want to give up so soon. The wolf slowly got to its feet, and began to growl even louder. It started to run and gained speed which caught the young boy off guard. The wolf pounced on the boy and started clawing at him. _I can't look. _I closed my eyes and began to panic, and was afraid that the young boy might die.

The young boy started to scream, probably every time the wolf slashed at him with it's claws. I covered my ears, not wanting to hear any more. _Please don't kill him, Please don't kill him, Please don't kill him. _I said over and over in my head. I heard more screams, and some yelps, hopefully from the wolf, but I started to hum the song my mother sang to me. _'You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy, when skies are grey---_ ' I heard a loud yelp over me humming my mothers song, and knew that the 'game' was over with. I uncovered my ears, opened my eyes, and searched for the young boy.

He was kneeling on the ground next the werewolf that seemed to be breathing faintly. He grabbed something from his jacket pocket, which it appeared to be a large knife. He raised his arm, knife in hand, and as he brought it down on the wolf he hissed, "Pathetic." The wolf yelped faintly, one last time.

The young boy pulled out his knife from the wolf's body, and with his other hand grabbed a handkerchief from his other pocket in his jacket, and began cleaning it.

"To bad you didn't have your pack with you." He sighed. "You probably would have lived."

He got up from where he was standing and walked off to the side where there were fallen tree branches. He dragged the branches over to the wolf, and covered him up. He continuously did this until its body was covered just enough to where a human would not be able to see it. He stood in front of it, enjoying his work, then walked off.

I just sat there, stunned at what I saw. _That was... was crazy! _

I peaked over the bush again to make sure the boy wasn't there anymore, which he wasn't. _Maybe I should go over and see the wolf, up close._ I got up from where I was sitting and slowly, and quietly crept up towards the werewolf. My feet crunched on the fallen leaves and branches, so I hoped that the boy was long gone. When I came close to its body, I crouched down to get a closer look, and moved some of the branches that were covering it's face. As I touched the last thick branch from it's face, it began to move from under it. I backed away from the branches and stopped. _But its dead... _It's moving slowed down, so I began to pick up the last piece. It was a heavy, long one and it took all my strength to move it far from the wolfs body. As I dropped the branch, I turned around to see the dead wolfs body, but what was laying before me was a human. I screamed.

_Josh. _

Josh as a young teenager was lying on the ground, cuts and bruises appeared on his tan body and a large open wound where the young boy stabbed him. _This...This can't be. The boy stabbed...a werewolf. Not him. _I walked closer and noticed it was the same Josh I saw in the picture over at Mike's house.

I turned quickly on my heels and started to run as fast as I could. Tears started to form in my eyes, making everything harder to see. _Where am I? I want to go home._

"Daniel, Kyle, Please help! I want to go home!" I screamed. The tears started to slide down my face, and came right after another. As I was running, my foot was caught by a root, and pulled me to the ground. Blackness started to overcome me as I screamed one last time, "I just.. want to go home.."

"-Tori, are you awake?" A faint voice said to me.

"Torriii..." It was Daniel's voice.

"Tori, wake up your having a nightmare!" I quickly opened my eyes and noticed that I was in my bedroom again. My bedside light was on, and Daniel's head popped in my view.

"Daniel? You-you found me. You saved me!" I sat up quickly and hugged Daniel, and noticed Kyle sitting at my desk, shaking his head.

"Tori, you had a nightmare. Whatever you saw... was just a dream." Daniel quickly said while releasing me from the hug. My emotions started to rise and tears started to form in my eyes. I let out a cry, which created a weight to be lifted off of my shoulders. Daniel pulled me closer, and started to comb through my hair.

"Shhh..." Daniel hushed.

I just couldn't't calm down. I had to tell Daniel.

"In my dream." I didn't know how to tell him. I didn't want it to all come out jumbled together, also I was afraid of how he was going to react.

"I was in the woods, and I didn't know where I was. I saw a young boy and a... werewolf." Daniel released me, and I saw Kyle in the corner of my eye turn towards me, becoming interested.

"The boy and the werewolf started to fight and in the end the werewolf died. He covered it up with branches, and left. I walked over to it and started to uncover it..." I stopped, not wanting to recall the last part of my dream, but I knew they were wanting to know. I looked at Kyle and he waved his arms, telling me to continue.

"As I uncovered the branches, I saw... I saw Josh." I closed my eyes and sighed in relief. I opened them slowly, hoping they weren't that shocked.

"What did this young boy look like?" Kyle asked.

I was confused on why he was asking this question, or any question at all. I thought they would have just blown it off, thinking my dream was stupid.

"He had snowy white skin, black side swipe hair, and really dark clothes." I shook my head trying to get the young boy's image out of my head, and looked up towards Daniel which he was glancing at Kyle. I stood up from the bed and began pacing back and forth.

"Why would I be having a dream about Josh?" I asked. There was a long pause, which made me even more uncomfortable.

"Well, I don't know if we should tell you this, and I don't know how to put it in words, but for some odd reason I think you just witnessed Josh's death." I stopped in my tracks, shocked at what Daniel was saying. I then gave him an expression that would make him explain it a little better.

"Josh was killed by a person that fit the description you told us. We don't know exactly what went down before Josh's death, but some how you may have seen it all." He shrugged his shoulders, telling me that was everything he could say. Kyle got up from his chair and walked passed me and out of my room without even a glance in my direction. Daniel stood up not too shortly after Kyle, and stopped in front of me. I looked up to see his expression on his face, which wasn't what I had expected. He had a smile spread from ear to ear. He tucked a strand of my brown hair behind my ear, and sighed.

"I bet what you saw was a terrible thing." I shook my head in agreement. "I wish you didn't see any of it." He added as he started walking towards the door. He turned around, "The families down stairs in the family room, if you want to join us." I smiled and sat on the edge of my bed. Daniel walked out the door, and shut it quietly.

I turned to look at my alarm clock, and it read: 11:23 pm. _I only slept for an hour!_ I got up from my bed and headed down stairs. As I was walking down the hall I turned to the bathroom, just so I could take a quick look at myself. I turned on the light and I stood in front of the gold frame mirror. Standing there before me was a pale girl with deep dark circles under her eyes, with hair that was a knotted mess, and in green pajamas. _Ugh. Yuck. I need more sleep, I just do not look like myself lately._

I walked out of the bathroom as quickly as possible, and walked down the stairs. Off to the right of me was the family sitting in the family room, just talking. No t.v, no board games, no nothing; just talking. As I reached to bottom and made my way to the family room, everyone stopped and stared. _I'm guessing Daniel and Kyle told them everything. _The only thing that I could do was put a smile on my face; giving them the impression that I was okay.

"Hey everybody. What are you guys doing up so late?" I asked.

"It's Saturday, we don't have work tomorrow." Kelly answered for everybody. I shrugged my shoulders and smiled.

"Well I'm just going to go out back to get some fresh air."

Kelly shook her head and continued her conversation with everyone, while I headed towards the back of the house. I didn't bother to turn on the hallway light, which was fine, because there was a perfect amount of light coming from the family room to light up the small hallway. I made it to the sliding glass door and opened it. A rush of warm hair blew passed me as I stepped outside and closed the door behind me. The backyard was brightly lit by the full moon in the dark sky, making everything visible. I took in a deep breath which is what I needed after this whole situation.

I walked out into the middle of the yard, and stood there enjoying the fresh air. But what I really wanted to do was to lay down on the grass and stare at all of the stars, but I knew the family would get worried about me if I stayed too long. As I turned around and faced the house, I began to get this really creepy feeling in the pit of my stomach, which caused me to panic. I started to walk a little more quickly towards the house, and when I had a few more steps left, I heard a crack from behind me. _Sounded like a twig snapping._

"Mike, if thats you, Daniel will kick your butt. So you better use the front door." I turned around to see if it was him, but I saw nothing. That's when something hard came crashing down on my head, and I yelped in pain. I fell to the floor, holding my head. I turned to see who had hit me, which was a person dressed in all black with their hood over their head, so I couldn't see their face.

I knew this was my only chance, so I screamed. "Daniel, Kyle, Hel-" The person standing over me covered my mouth with their hand, and with their other hand they punched me in the face. I began kicking this person but blackness began to overcome me, so I knew it was too late to escape.


	12. Ruby Red

**I want to give thanks to everybody that has reviewed. It makes me really really happy. Also it inspires me to write quicker (when I'm not busy). So thank you soooooo much!**

**Read and review.**

**:D**

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Darkness surrounded me. The air was filled with a musky thick smell, which caused me to take deep breaths. I was feeling dizzy and disoriented from getting hit in the head, and being knocked out. Which it took me a few seconds to realize that I couldn't move my legs or arms. It seemed that all my strength had dissapeared as I tried pulling my legs and arms free, and nothing happened. Nearby, water droplets fell into puddles, echoing all around me. _Where-- Where am I? _

"Your in a cave." Said a deep voice, which echoed around me.

"Who-who are you?" I was staring into darkness, which caused me to panic, so my breathing began to deepen and became shorter, quicker breaths.

"Jeez, calm down. I promise, I'm not gunna hurt you. The names Aidan."

"What do you want? Please... let me go." I cried.

"You don't need to know that right now, so just relax." I heard his footsteps walk farther away from me, which helped me calm down. _I need to get out of here._

"You won't be able to, so I wouldn't even try if I was you." He warned.

"Great, so you can read minds too, let me guess, a werewolf also?" I questioned. Aidan laughed, "I am more powerful than a worthless werewolf." He said, sounding cocky.

"Then what are you, almighty, powerful one?" I said mockingly.

"I don't wish you tell you, I wish to show you. But lucky for you, I can't show you right now."

I didn't bother to respond to that, all that mattered to me was to get the heck out of here. Once agian, I started to pull my hands from the rope that was keeping me from my freedom, but the rope wouldn't budge, and I began to tug on my legs hoping they might budge, but no luck. _I'm doomed._

"Sorry for having no light, Alaric will be back with some matches soon."

"Who's Alaric?" I asked.

"He's my leader." I couldn't help but laugh. _Leader. Ha. Ha. That's funny._

"Shut up before I take that promise of not hurting you, back." I stopped laughing and put a frown on my face, even though he couldn't see it.

"What time is it?" I dared to ask. I didn't know if I have been knocked out for a day or two, or just an hour.

"You have only been knocked out for a couple of hours. It's around 2:00 am." I sighed, which I was unhappy that I haven't been able to get a full night of sleep. I desperately wanted to get out of this stupid cave, and to get home, so I began tugging on the ropes again. Nothing.

_Crap. This sucks. I'm stuck in a smelly cave, with an 'It' that has really bad-- Oops._

His foot steps crept towards me one by one with a really fast pace, then it went silent. I waited for something to happen. It became so quiet, all I could hear were the water droplets and my own heart beat, until Aidan whispered in my ear, "I have a really bad what?", which made me flich.

I began to panic, and my breathing became quicker and shorter breaths.

"I have a really bad what? Answer me." He hissed into my ear.

"You--You ha-have a really bad--...life. You know having to live in a cave in all... am I right?" I asked, while shivering.

"I _don't_ live in a cave." His voice was not in my ear, which ment he was standing straight up now.

Aidan began to walk away, his footsteps echoing in the cave as he snapped, furiously, "And I'm _not_ an _'It'_. So don't call me that agian." I gulped. _How about I don't think ever again?_

"That would be a _great_ idea." He agreed.

I didn't hear his foot steps any more, which told me he was standing, or sitting, or crawling on the walls or whatever. But by the amount of foot steps he took, it ment that he was far away. I began to scoot my chair over to the right of me, not really knowing what was over there, since I couldn't see. I couldn't really move fast, considering I had my hands and feet hooked to the chair, and I also didn't want to make any sound.

"Aidan, I'm back." I stopped where I was. _Alaric._

"Oh, so I am guessing you have told our visitor my name already?" He asked.

"Yeah, I have. Did you get matches?"

"Yes, I did. Now our visitor will be able to see. How has she been?" I rolled my eyes. _Okaayy... talk like I'm not here._

Someone chuckled, I wasn't sure who it was.

"She has been a pain in the neck." Aidan said. They both laughed, which I didn't seem to get the joke.

I grunted.

"What is troubling you my child?" Alaric asked, in a sweet voice.

"Well hmm, the tooth fairy didn't give me any money, and--and... Maybe its because I have been kiddnapped?!?!?" I was practically yelling. I was frustrated. They haven't really told me anything except thier names. Also, I get cranky when I don't get enough sleep...

"Well, if you want answers. We will give you answers." Alaric said.

"Please." I pleaded.

A match flicked on which only lit a small proportion of the cave, but also a man. The man holding the match wasn't someone who was young, but a man no older than 70. He had snowy white hair flowing down onto his shoulders, and also wore a long black cloak that reached the ground.

"Hello Victoria, I'm Alaric." He smiled. I think he wanted it to be a friendly smile, but to me, it was an evil, creepy one.

I gulped. "H-hi." I studdered.

He began walking closer to me, so my heart began to beat faster. His steps were smooth and quiet. Not like Aidans, where I could hear him from a distance. He turned slightly away from me revealing a small table with a lantern, which was inches away from me. He lit the lantern which seemed to cause a part of the cave to light up, but it still didn't reveal Aidan. Alaric walked to the left side of me and lit another match which revealed another lantern, which he lit also. Over in the far corner stood Aidan, which he looked to be about my age or older, wearing all black with his hood over his head.

_Aww... is someone shy? _I thought.

Aidan bounced off the wall where he was standing and quickly moved over to me, not revealing his face at all. He stopped in front of me, inches away. I wasn't frightened any more at this point, I was just sleepy.

He stood there not doing anything, which worried me a little. He knew I was wanting to see his face, so he slowly reached up to grab his hood and knocked it down.

I gasped, and in return he gave me a confused look.

"Your the boy..." I couldn't finish my sentence. I was in shock.

"Your the boy in my dream!" His look turned from confusion to a worried look. Alaric appeared behind Aidan with the same expression.

"You killed.. Josh." I whispered. I couldn't talk, something was forcing me to whisper. The same boy that was in my dream, was standing here before me. A boy with the same black side swipe hair and snowy white skin. Aidan turned to look at Alaric, and they began walking away.

_This is just another dream. I haven't woken up yet._ I closed my eyes and pictured me in my bed, just laying there with Kyle sitting at my desk with a smirk on his face, and Daniel with his usual smile spreading from ear to ear. Also Kelly and Chris holding hands; Kelly with her head on his shoulder.

_I miss them... Wake up Tori! Wake up!...Please._

"Ahem." I opened my eyes and saw Aidan standing in front of me, his arms crossed in front of his chest. My vision blurred, and tears started to fall down my cheek.

"Oh please don't cry." He flew his head back and wiped off his forehead; looking discusted. His hands flew up in the air. "I don't feel like dealing with this right now." He walked over to the other side of the cave and slid down the wall. He flipped his hood over his head; covering up his face. Alaric stood there staring back in forth from me, to Adian, then back at me.

I just couldn't stay awake anymore. Getting no sleep, and with everything that has happened is causing me to fall asleep at a wrong time, and the crying didn't help ethier. I didn't want to fall sleep with these strangers around, espicially with a _murderer._ But my eye lids betrayed me, and I fell into a deep sleep.

----- ----- -----

As I woke, It was acutally brighter than before I fell asleep. I noticed that I was laying down instead of sitting in a chair. I lifted my body into a sitting postion, and my head began getting sharp pains that caused me to flinch. "Ugh." I looked around and noticed that no one else was in the cave.The same lanterns were lit, and some other lanterns were lit in places that I never knew existed, creating the whole cave to be visable.

_Well, if theres nobody here..._ I sat on the edge of the bed which caused my feet to rest on the cold, hard, rocky floor. I stretched my rested arms and legs, and also let out a loud yawn. _...I guess I'll be able to explore. _I slowly got up and again, began stretching my sore, stiff muscles. I looked around and noticed how the bed was next to the table that I sat next to last night. A small plate of food sat in the middle of the table, uncovered. _Yuck._ I walked over to it, picked it up and stupidly, I sniffed it. It smelt like it was a mixture of dead fish, and rotton milk which caused me to drop the plate of food back onto the table. I rubbed my nose, and sneezed, and hoped that the smell would dissappear. _I wonder where they are._

I began to recap everything that happened last night...or morning, which a picture of Adian popped in my head. His features were exactly the same as I pictured him in my dream. He had strong features, tall, but not as tall as Daniel or Kyle, midnight black hair, which seemed to cause his skin to be a snowy white. Picturing him created a shiver to run up my spine. _He's a murderer._

I wanted to get my mind off of him, so I slowly walked over to the other side of the cave, hopefully finding somewhere I could maybe escape. _I can't believe they trusted me enough to leave me here alone._

"Do you seriously think we would leave you alone?" Aidan crept out of the shadows, from behind a rock that I never seemed to have noticed before. His hood was down which made his face in clear view of me to see. Another shiver ran down my spine causing goosebumps to form, which made the hair on my arm stand.

"Well, I don't know. You seem stupid enough." I dared to say. Let me just tell you this, when I'm in an uncomfortable situation, my sarcasim and idiocy seem to over power my "good, lady-like side".

"Tisk. Tisk. And I actually thought you were a nice young lady." He said while crossing his arms. I looked towards the ground; not wanting to look at his face.

He began walking closer, his loud steps echoing, causing my heart to beat faster.

"Your heart seems to beat faster than normal, every time I approach you." The tone in his voice sounded as if he was interested, and ammused. "Do I scare you?" He was now inches away from me, but I still focused my attention towards the ground, which I was now looking at his black boots since he walked closer. I could feel his unsual cold breath on me everytime he exhaled.

"N-no. Why wo-would I be afriad of you?" I muttered quietly. I looked up to face the murderer who killed Josh. His messy, black hair fell in his face, only covering up half of his left eye. But as I stared at the features of Aidan, I began to notice that he was different. His eyes weren't a normal color. They weren't brown, they weren't blue or green. They were sort of a pinkish color, with swirls of black. Sort of a dark, ruby red.

When my brain finally processed that Aidan wasn't really normal, I took a giant step back, but my eyes never left him. My breathing began to become quicker breaths, which seemed to make Aidan happy. A smirk began to form on his face as he took large steps towards me. I walked backwards more quickly, hoping that he would trip and hit his head maybe knocking him out. But I knew that wouldn't happen.

That's when my back hit the hard rock wall of the cave. _Crap._ The smirk that spread across his face turned into an evil grin, as he stopped about three inches away from me. The cold breath that he exhaled made me shiver, which caused him to laugh. He leaned in closer, whispering in my ear, "I guess that since we have light... I can show you who I really am." He backed away from my ear with the same smirk that he walked over to me with.

"Please just let me go home." I pleaded. "I'll do anything. Please."

"Oh, you'll go home." He said in acceptence, as he wickedly smiled. I screamed, in shock. His smile revealed two sharp teeth on the top row, one on each corner. "When I'm done with you." He said, low and dangerous.

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**Sorry for making it a cliff hanger, _agian._I have been so so so busy. I'm trying really hard. So bear with me. **

**Please review.**


	13. Claimed

Well I decided to write a long chapter to make up for the really bad cliff-hanger. So here yah go. I was going to post this yesterday, but thanks to my nephew he decided to be born yesterday, well actually today.. Ugh. I went to the hospital yesterday at 11 am, and didn't get home till 4 this morning because he decided he didn't want to be born on the 3rd, so he was born at 1:56 am. Ughh. But he's really really cute. -. ...Sorry but I had to brag about him. Who wouldn't want to brag about their new nephew! haha. **So thankfully I was able to update tonight, and I'm sooo tired. But I can't stop writing!!! **

Haha. Read and Review.

:D

Thanks.

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"Please just let me go home." I pleaded. "I'll do anything. Please." 

"Oh, you'll go home." He said in acceptance, as he wickedly smiled. I screamed, in shock. His smile revealed two sharp teeth on the top row, one on each corner. "When I'm done with you." He said, low and dangerous. I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. He chuckled, as he reached up and grabbed my chin. I winced as he tightened his grip, which he then forcefully moved my chin over, revealing the right side of my neck. I took a deep breath and held it, and closed my eyes.

_Wake up Tori! _I opened my eyes to find that I was still staring straight in the eyes of a vampire. Aidan started to move closer, which I felt his cold breath upon my neck. I closed my eyes once again, hoping that this was all a really bad nightmare.

"Aidan!" I opened my eyes and saw Alaric walking with a fast pace in our direction. "What are you doing?" He said with panic in his voice. Aidan moved away from my neck, and into my view. His razor sharp fangs were still showing. "She annoyed me." He said in a dull voice. Aidan holding my chin seemed to have been holding me up, because when he released me, my legs gave out and I fell to the floor. I sat there, staring at the ground, and also dumb-struck at what had just happened. _I almost died._

"You wouldn't have died, now shut up." He snapped furiously. The world around me started to spin, and would occasionally turn black, making me sick. That's when something great happened to me. I passed out.

-------------------

I laid there for a while, with my eyes closed. I wasn't passed out or sleeping, but I could hear Aidan and Alaric talking, so I didn't feel like 'waking up' just yet. I guessed that we were in a car heading some where, because it was really bumpy. I was hoping that they were taking me back home, but according to the freak, a.k.a Aidan, I wasen't going home till he was "done with me." Which means "when he kills me." So I'm going home _never._ I opened my eyes, and stared at the roof of the car. As I sat up I looked out of the darkly tinted window and saw nothing but darkness and shapes of trees surrounding us. _Great, nighttime. _

"Victoria, I'm glad to see you awake." Alaric said sounding pleased. I looked over to him, which he was in the drivers seat, next to Aidan sitting right in front of me, in the passengers seat. "Yeah, why is that?" I asked, confused.

"Well, I was hoping you didn't die of shock." He lightly chuckled as I turned to look back out the tinted window, and rested my head up against it. I was watching darkness and trees flying by at an amazing speed.

_Just kill me now._ I thought.

"That can be arranged." Aidan said, sounding interested. I rolled my eyes and rested my head against the window. That's when I noticed that the trees were slowing down.

"We are here!" We turned down a long stone driveway that led us to a large black gate, with stone walls connected to it. Also large lights shone on the black gate and parts of the stone wall, which also lit up the whole car. When I peaked out the front windshield, the gates started to open, letting us drive through. My heart started to beat fast, and butterflies crept into my stomach, which could have been my stomach telling me that i'm hungry, since I haven't eaten in forever. I was beginning to wonder where we were so I asked, "Where are--" Aidan interrupted. "--You don't need to know that right now." I lightly smashed my head up against the window, which I was really annoyed. They don't tell me anything.

We drove down this long driveway for about a minute which to me it seemed like eternity. As we slowed down, Aidan unbuckled his seat belt, and turned around in his seat and faced me. Luckily I couldn't see his face real well, but a mental image popped in my head, causing me to shiver. "When we get out of this car, don't ask questions--- no, actually, don't say anything." He turned back around as we stopped. I looked out the window, expecting another typical house, even maybe an entrance to a cave, but instead, it was a huge stone house with the same giant lights as earlier; lighting up the outside walls of the house.

Aidan got out of the car and turned to my door to let me out. I stepped out, still staring at the house. I was amazed at how huge it was. It was a two story stone wall, with giant windows, and a giant maroon colored door. Aidan came from behind me and grabbed my arm leading me towards the house. Alaric appeared from around the other side of the car and began walking next to me, too close for comfort. We walked up the large stone steps, and paused in front of the door. Alaric grabbed the door knocker and knocked three times. Once again, my heart started to race, and sweat began to form in the palms of my hands.

The door started opening and a man about the same age as Alaric appeared in the door. He had short spiky white hair, and a red sweater with jeans on, making him look friendly and normal. A smile started to appear on his face as he said, "Alaric! Aidan! So good to see you again." He held out his hand for Alaric to shake, and did the same with Aidan. He then paused, and stared at me. "Hello there, pretty young lady, what's your name?"

I started to laugh inside my head, from thinking about what Aidan said earlier. _"When we get out of this car, don't ask questions--- no, don't say anything."_ So, I didn't say anything. The man appeared to be confused on why I wasen't talking, so he turned to Alaric. That's when Aidan pinched me where he was holding my arm. I flashed an annoyed kind of glance towards him, which he did the same, but his was a glance that could kill, literally. "My name is Victoria." I answered quickly. He turned towards me, and smiled "Well, nice to meet you Victoria. I'm Lucian." He backed up into the house and held out an arm towards the inside, telling us we were allowed in.

Alaric walked in first, followed by me and Aidan. The house was as beautiful on the inside as it was on the outside. We stood at the end of a long hallway that had at-least ten doors on each side. A long maroon carpet went from the front door all the way to the back of the house where a set of stairs were, also lanterns were on both sides of the hallway, lighting the hallway up perfectly.

Lucian began walking with Alaric, starting up a conversation that was too quiet for me to hear. I started to follow Alaric, but Adian pulled me back with his tight grip he had on my arm. He stood behind me and whispered in my ear, "I wouldn't do anything stupid if I was you." He walked up beside me and put his arm around my waist, holding me tightly. I tried to budge from his grip but it just caused him to hold on tighter. We then started to follow Alaric, and Lucian, but kept a far distance away from them. I looked around and noticed that all the doors were closed, and it was extremely quiet except for the ticking of the big grandfather clock that was in the middle of the hallway. As we passed the grandfather clock, I glanced at it and it read, 1:35 am. _How long have I been knocked out? _I wondered.

When we all reached the stairwell, Alaric turned to me, and Aidan. "Victoria, Lucian is going to show you where you will be sleeping. So follow him, and we will see you tomorrow morning." Aidan let go of my waist and walked with Alaric in the direction we came from. I looked at Lucian and a smile appeared on his face as he started walking up the stair case. I followed him, afraid that I might get lost in this huge house.

As I was walking up the stairs a memory popped in my head. It was my first day with the Blaine family and I was walking down the stairs freaking out about what I was going to say to them at the dinner table. Then that's when I heard Daniel and Kyle yelling at me to get out of the way because they were having a race to see who could get downstairs first. Daniel won. I came back to reality and I laughed at my memory. Lucian stopped at the last step and turned around with a confused look on his face, so I shrugged my shoulders. He turned back around a continued walking down a long hallway. He was walking so fast I had to jog a little. _Dang. This old guy can walk fast!_ As I finally caught up with Lucian he quickly stopped in front of a door, which caused me to run into him. "Ha. Sorry." I backed away, afraid that he might rip my head off like Aidan probably would. He took a bunch of keys out of his pocket that was all on a key ring. _Why does he need to unlock the door? He's definantly not locking me in a strangers room!_ When he found the right key, he put it in the key hole and unlocked it with no hassle. He opened the door to the room, and disappeared into the darkness. _I'm not walking in there._ Lucian came into view, as he turned on a bed side lamp.

"Come on in." He whispered. I slowly walked in his direction, but I also began to look around. The room was white with a door in the back of the room, probably a bathroom. Also, two beds were next to each other. As I looked closer I began to notice that there was a body in one of the beds.

"Who's that?" I pointed to the figure laying in the other bed.

"That's Grace. You will be rooming with her. You can introduce yourself in the morning." He handed me what looked to be some black pj's. "Now go change for bed. I'll see you in the morning." He walked off, not giving me a chance to ask any more questions. I turned to look at the door as he closed it. I stopped breathing so I would be able to notice and hear if he was locking the door or not. **Click.** _Dang it. I knew it. Why didn't you do anything? _I asked myself. I stood in place, my body feeling too tired to even move, but I knew that there was nothing to do other than to get ready and go to bed. So I walked over to the other door, and sure enough, it was a bathroom. I walked in and flicked on the light as I closed the door. It was plain white bathroom, nothing special like Kelly's decorative, gold bathroom.

I looked in the mirror and saw a terrible looking person. My hair was extremely knotty and greasy looking, and I had dark circles against my pale skin. I turned on the facet and waited till the water was hot, and started splashing water on my face. I cleaned up the access water with a nearby towel, and looked at myself again. I was shocked to see that I was a little better looking than before. I looked more alive. I turned to see a sign above a small bin that said, "Dirty clothes." I shrugged and started to change into the black pj's that I was given. The pj's were soft and warm, and it didn't look half bad on me. I grabbed my clothes from the floor and placed it in the bin and headed back out into the room.

"Hi, I'm Grace." I practically jumped ten feet in the air. I looked over and the figure that was laying in the bed earlier was now sitting up. She looked to be about my age, maybe older. She had long straight blonde hair, which framed her tan face. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." I walked over to the other bed and sat on top of the covers.

"Hi." I began fidgeting with the white fluffy covers, not wanting to make eye contact, and not wanting to make a conversation.

"I'm so glad to have company. I haven't had someone to room with in _forever._" I looked over to her, and at that point she looked to be a desperate, lonely girl.

"Well, hopefully I won't be here long." I replied. I looked back down at the covers; picking off lose strings.

"Which one is yours?" I glanced back at her with a confused look. "Who is gunna claim you?" She added. I got up and sat on the edge of my bed closest to her. _She's probably the one I can get answers from. _

"What do you mean?" I asked. She got up from where she was sitting did the same, and sat on the edge of her bed closest to me; looking eager to tell me something that I didn't know. "You mean you don't know?" Her eyes got wide when I shook my head 'no'. "Whoever brought her here, must have not told her anything." She whispered to her self.

"Ahem." I cleared my throat, trying to tell her that I was still here wanting answers.

"I don't know where to begin.. Hmm" She closed her eyes and started tapping her pointer finger to her head. "Ooo, I know! Let me ask you this, have you come into contact with any... umm.. vampires?" When she said the word vampires, a picture formed in my head of Aidan with his sharp fangs, which caused a shiver to run up my spine. "Yes... I have." I said quietly, as I lowered my head.

"Do you know his name?" I looked at her with a painful expression. _I can't believe she's making me say his name out loud._ "Aidan." It was barely a whisper, but with the expression that came upon her face seemed as though I yelled it. "Your Victoria." She muttered. I snapped my head in her direction. "How did you know that?" She got up and sat next to me on the bed I was sitting on. "Everyone knows about you! Aidan is the most powerful vampire ever to live, and he's the one that claimed you. Well not yet, not until you change." I held up my hand, telling her to stop. "Claimed? Change? What do you mean by all that?"

She started to bite her finger nails, but stopped as she began, "When a vampire claims a human... it means that when they bite you, your theirs forever." My eyes widened, and I began to panic, "You mean Adian is going to bite me, and when he does I'm his what? Sister, cousin, aunt..." "Wife." She interrupted. I gave her a crazy look, because she didn't seem bothered by nothing at all. "This can't be happening. I don't want to be a wife to a _vampire_." I got up from where I was sitting and began pacing back and forth. I stopped in my tracks and pointed a finger in her direction. "_You_ need to tell me _everything_." I started again, pacing back and forth, which is what I do when I'm extremely nervous.

She hesitated, "Well...I don't know." I ran over to her and sat next to her on the bed. "Please, I have been living in a cave for who knows how long. With a dude that almost _bit me_, if it wasen't for his "leader" stopping him! And I don't know _anything_!" I snapped. She began biting her finger nails again and kept staring back and forth from me to the floor. "Okay, I'll tell you everything. But you can't tell anybody that I told you, because if you haven't found out anything yet, theres a reason why." I shook my head 'yes' with excitement pulsing through my veins.

She started off slow, trying to put her words together. "There are many rules in the vampire world, but there is one important rule that every vampire must follow. Every vampire that reaches one hundred years of being a vampire has to claim a human. Which as I told you, to claim a human they have to bite the human they chose, and then the human will be changed into a vampire. But, the vampires can only change their human during a full moon. So this place, is a place where the vampires keep their humans until the full moon occurs. So this year, Aidan is one hundred, so he chose to claim you." She ended with a loud sigh and a smile as I shook my head in disbelief. Then she began, "When its a full moon, all the vampires get together and have a huge dinner. Then one by one they change their human." I gave her a confused, angry glare, because I was shocked on why she wasn't bothered by this. "Why would Aidan choose me?" I asked.

She got up and went over to her bed and laid on her side with one of her arms holding her head up. "Well I only know a little bit. But Aidan thinks that since your a daughter of a vampire--" I held up my hand to tell her to stop. "Wait, daughter of a what?" She shot up into a sitting position; looking excited about the fact that she gets the opportunity to talk some more. "You mean you don't know about your father?" I shook my head 'no'. "My father died before I was born." I muttered. She shook her head. "You really don't know anything." Her voice was soft, almost as if she was about to cry.

"Well, I don't know _everything_, I only know a little bit about your father." She said; sounding disappointed.

"Anything would be nice." I looked towards the carpet of the bedroom, wondering if I actually want to know about my father, but that thought was interrupted.

"Okay, I hope I don't mess this up because that would just totally suck." I laughed.

"Your father, before you were born, was a vampire." I shot a look towards her, but she kept going. "He wasen't like a typical vampire, that's why nobody liked him." She paused and began wrapping her covers around her. "Why didn't they like him?" I asked.

"Your father could walk around in the sun light. Which he could still burn, but only if he stayed out in the sun for a long periods of time. So everyone was jealous of him. _They_, as in meaning, old pale vampires that haven't been in the sun in... forever, were wanting to feel the warmth of the sun like he could."

"Do you know how my father died?" I asked, egar to hear what she had to say.

She hesitated, picking out her words so that they made sense. "Your father was killed because he didn't believe in the whole "claim and change human thing". He stood before the vampire council and told them that he wasen't going to do it, and that it was wrong. They told him that he had one more chance to claim a human, and they even gave him a human, so he didn't have to hunt for one." She lowered her head and finished, "Which that human was your mother." I closed my eyes and shook my head.

Here was this stranger that I just met, telling me things about my father that I never knew about. _I didn't even know what he looked like._ I thought.

She began again, "Your father and mother ran off with each other, but they both knew they would be found and both killed. They eventually fell in love but your father knew that if your mother didn't run away and leave his side, that they would be hunted down for the rest of their lives until they were dead. So your father sacrificed himself to save your mother, and told her to leave him, but before she left your father, she had _you._" She smiled, and began to get under her covers, as if she was done with answering questions, which I had a ton more to ask.

One of them being, "I thought vampires couldn't have babies with humans. Wait, my mother stayed a human... right?"

She laughed. "Yeah, she did, and that is a total myth, _obviously._"

"How come I wasn't born as a vampire then?" She rolled her eyes, clearly annoyed of all the questions. But she answered anyway, "If a vampire has a baby with a human, the baby will always be born as a human." She clapped her hands together, telling me she was done for the night... or morning, but I really didn't get the answer why Aidan chose me, so I had to ask.

"Now tell me again, why Aidan chose me?" I asked, quietly.

She sighed. "Aidan thinks that if he turns you into a vampire, you will have the same traits as your father, maybe something different and more powerful than being able to be in the sun... which means you will be his wife... so he thinks that he will be a powerful vampire... blah. blah. blah." I sat back against the head board of my bed, and began fidgeting with my pj's.

"Well goodnight." She added before laying down and covering herself with covers.

I leaned over and turned off the light, which the darkness created a weight on my eyes, which led me into a deep, deep sleep.

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Yeah, this chapter was hard to write, just because of all the answers that I had to come up with and stuff. But if anyone gets confused, please feel free to message me. 

Review. Thanks!


	14. Room five

**Well I haven't updated in a while. Midterm exams are this week so I have been studying. **(Which me studying is a shocker.) **But today I didn't feel like studying, so I'm blowing off studying for my American History exam so I could write this chapter. Ah well. **

**So enjoy!**

**Read and review.**

**:D**

* * *

My deep, dreamless sleep was being interrupted by the clicking of the door being opened. I grabbed my pillow from under me and wrapped it around my face, trying to hide me from the rest of the world. I definitely wasn't in any mood to deal with any vampires, _or_ Grace. The sound of feet rustling against the carpet and the sound of a rusty wheel caused me to peak from under my pillow. Coming through the door was a old lady dragging her feet on the ground while pushing a metal cart that had two metal things on them. I grabbed my pillow and threw it on the floor next to me, not caring if I was being messy. I sat up while rubbing my eyes, and a deep yawn formed in the back of my throat. 

"Good morning Miss." said a shaky voice as she turned on a light. I squinted my eyes trying to adjust to the light coming from my bed side lamp. The old lady was wearing an outfit that you would only see in movies, which was the black dress with a white apron. I chuckled.

"I brought you some breakfast." She turned to face me, carrying a tray that had a plate covered up by a silver cover. I took a deep breath and I could smell the bacon and the sweet smell of syrup. _I haven't eaten in forever!_ She sat the tray down on my lap and revealed the plate as she took the silver cover off. I gazed at the two pancakes smothered in syrup, and eggs with bacon right next to it. _I'm--I'm in heaven._ The old maid walked back over to me, handing me a napkin, fork and a cup of orange juice.

"Oh, thank you so much!" I started to dig in and took large bites which caused the old maid to stop and stare with amusement. I slowed and took smaller bites, embarrassed from being such a pig. Thankfully I was saved from the awkwardness.

"Morning Gretchen, morning Victoria." I looked over and Grace was sitting up with her usual weird, crazy-kind of smile.

"Morning." I muttered with a mouth full of food. I dug in again, and Gretchen starting serving Grace.

"So how did you sleep Tori? By the way, do you mind if I call you Tori?" I rolled my eyes, already becoming annoyed at Grace's motor mouth.

"Fine, and no." I snapped. As I finished the last bite, Gretchen grabbed my plate, also my orange juice cup and set it on her cart.

"Grace, when your done with that, make sure you bring it down to the kitchen." I looked over to Grace and she shook her head yes, and began eating again.

"And Victoria, there are two outfits in the bathroom for you and Grace, your name will be on the shirt." I shook my head as she headed for the door with the cart. I sat in bed and stared at the door, thinking maybe that the maid might not lock the door. I waited, and there was no clicking sound.

"She didn't lock the door." I said out loud.

"They only lock the door at night." Grace said, while stuffing her mouth again. I got up and headed for the bathroom. I closed the door and turned on the bright lights. On the counter was an outfit that had a sticky note stuck to it saying 'Victoria'. I sighed, while grabbing the outfit.

When I looked in the mirror, it didn't look that bad on me. It was an all black outfit; a long sleeved, v-neck shirt, and long black jeans. _Slimming, but depressing._ I looked at Grace's outfit and it was the same. _Uggh, we matched with the p.j.'s and now an everyday outfit? This sucks._ I walked out of the bathroom and Grace was sitting in the same spot, but wasn't eating anymore.

"Looks nice on you. But just wait, when you wear it everyday, it will get ugly." She sighed and drank the rest of her orange juice. I walked over to my bed and sat down.

"How long have you been here?" I asked.

She laughed. "Long enough. I have been here since the last full moon. I was supposed to be changed then, but he was too drunk to do it and he passed out." She laughed again as she set her tray on her bedside table.

I started to fidget with the blanket, and in the corner of my eye I saw Grace look at me with a frown.

"Something is bothering you." She stated.

I snapped my head in her direction and glared at her. "No, see, I'm confused on why this whole situation isn't bothering _**you.**_" A confused expression appeared on her face, so I continued, "Last night, when you told me about everything, you didn't seem bothered by anything that was going on. Like, being changed, living in a place _full_ of vampires, _nothing_." I fell onto my one pillow that I didn't throw on the ground, and closed my eyes; waiting for a response.

"I'm not bothered by this because... this is the first time in my lifetime that I'm actually _wanted_." I opened my eyes and sat up as she continued. "I was living on the streets when he found me. My family dumped me, and left me there a long time ago, and Blaze came and _saved me_. He told me everything about him, and everything that could happen to me if I went with him, so I accepted. Everything has been true so far." A small smile appeared on her face, which caused me to smile.

"So you want to become a wife to a vampire?" I asked, still curious. She shook her head 'yes', and got up from where she was sitting and headed for the bathroom. I got up and began making my bed, which I had nothing better to do.

Grace yelled from the bathroom. "When I'm done, we will go down to the kitchen to return my tray." I picked up the last pillow from off the floor and sat down. I looked around the room and actually began to notice how there were no windows. I sighed. _No escape_. I looked over to the bathroom door as Grace walked out in the same outfit I was wearing.

"Why can't they be nice enough to let us choose our own outfits, that _don't_ match?" I said. We both laughed in unison as we headed for the door. I opened the door and walked out into the hallway full of people wearing black outfits, just like we were. _Holy crap. You have got to be kidding me._ Grace walked passed me saying 'Hi' to people standing in groups, and began introducing me to them.

"Hi, nice to meet you." I said, while putting a fake smile on my face.

"So your the one everyone has been talking about." A girl, maybe younger than me with long blonde hair walked from behind the crowd of people with her arms folded and a snobby look on her face.

"I guess." I looked behind me and another group of people from the other side of the hallway began to form a circle around me, curious on what was going on.

"I don't see anything special about you." She said with attitude in her voice. I crossed my arms, imitating her, but it was also helping me from not punching her in the face. So instead of hurting her, I didn't satisfy her with a comeback that she wanted, and just turned around and began walking away.

"Haha, what a loser. Hey look everybody, shes scared." I stopped in my tracks and stood in place, staring at the ground.

"Excuse me?" I muttered.

"You heard me, _loosserr_." My breaths became short, quick breaths, and my heart began to race; pumping adrenaline through my veins.

"Is that all you got? Calling me a loser? How old are you anyways, five?" I asked. Trying to make her say something that would give me a purpose to punch her.

"No asshole, I'm fourteen." _Well that's it._ I balled up my fist and turned around and forcefully pressed my fist to her face, causing her to fall to the ground. She clutched the side of her face and began to cry.

"Who's the loser now?" I turned around and stared at the shocked faces that began backing away, clearly afraid of me. That's when I didn't hear the girl crying any more. I turned back around and saw that she was running towards me. I brought up my arms to block my face as she jumped on me, causing us both to fall to the ground. I grabbed a hold of her hair and began to pull, and she did the same.

"You started it." I managed to say.

"No, you started it."

"Your--" She tugged on my hair harder, so I did the same.

"Your the one who called me a loser." I screamed.

"No, your the one who was mean to me." _Okay, I'm not gunna play that game._ We rolled over and I felt her hard, warm hand swipe across my face. _She just slapped me._ So I grabbed her shoulders and began pressing her down into the ground. She let go of my hair and began screaming in pain.

Two large hands grabbed each sides of my shoulders, picking me up off of her. I tried to get out of this persons grasp, but they just held on tighter.

"Let go of me. I won't touch her." I muttered in frustration. I turned my head to see a large man holding me back away from the girl, which she was still on the floor, crying, and clutching her shoulders. _Okay, I know I didn't hurt her that much._ I rolled my eyes, and I knew that this girl was just being a drama queen so I get in trouble the most. I struggled, but this guy didn't lose his grip. I turned my head again, and the muscular guy shrugged his shoulders, "I can't have you hurting her anymore." He said in a deep voice.

I shook my head, "I won't. I promise."

"Sorry, I have to wait till Lucifer gets here." I froze. _Why does he need to know about this? What if he tells Aidan?_ I started to freak out, and my heart rate began to increase. I looked around me, and people were whispering in each others ears, and pointing towards my direction. People then turned around and quickly moved to the sides of the hallway, revealing the ticked off Lucifer.

"What in the hell happened?" I flinched at the sound of his voice.

"She-- I--" I stuttered, but I couldn't find the right words. Lucifer glanced towards the girl that was still on the floor, and she began to cry louder.

I then pointed to her. "That's all an act to get me in deep trouble. I didn't even hurt her--" He snapped his head in my direction and gave me a death glare. "--that bad." I finished. He walked over to me and grabbed my arm, which the big guy let go of me.

"Tyson, take Samantha down to main bathroom downstairs, I'll deal with her when I'm done with this one." He gripped my arm tighter, causing me to wince. As we walked down the hallway, people stepped aside, some clapping and screaming 'Go Victoria!", and some just whispering to themselves.

We began walking down the stairs and Lucifer grabbed a cell phone from his pocket. He dialed some numbers and waited. As we reached the middle of the stairs, he began talking.

"Hello, Aidan?" I froze. "Can you meet me in my office?" He paused, listening. "I need to talk to you about an incident that happened with your human." I snapped my head in his direction, and tried to listen very closely. "Yes, I know." He listened again. "Okay, Bye."

We started walking again, and I wanted to say something but nothing came out. _I'm definitely going to die._ We reached the last step and there seemed to be more people downstairs than upstairs. But the people down here weren't wearing black outfits, they were in normal clothes.

_Vampires._

As we walked down the hallway, people stared and began whispering to each other and pointing, there was only one whisper that I was able to hear, which was from a vampire that was close to me and she said, "That's Victoria." There were also some humans that were dressed in black, talking to some of the vampires. _What freaks._

When we reached the end of the hallway, he took out a pair of keys and began unlocking the door. When he managed to unlock it, he opened the door and shoved me inside, causing me to almost fall flat on my face.

"Sit." He pointed to a chair that was facing a large wooden desk, with a leather chair seated behind it. I walked over slowly as Lucifer walked passed me and sat in the leather seat. As I slowly sat down, with my back facing the door, I thought of the angry Aidan bursting through the door and strangling me right then and there. I shivered at the thought.

"We will wait till Aidan is present." Lucifer said while cleaning his desk. He wasn't friendly looking like he was the first day I met him. He was now wearing a dark sweater that made his pale skin even paler, and his white hair was messy, going in all different directions. I took a deep breath, and was getting prepared for the worst. _Well, at least I won't be turned into a vampire, I'll just be gone forever._ I felt better after thinking that thought. _I don't want to be with a killer all my life._ I began to get the confidence to tell Aidan that I didn't want to be with him anymore. _Yeah! I'll just tell him that he's an ignorant jerk, and that I don't want to be with him an--. _The thought was interrupted with the door slamming open.

I closed my eyes and didn't bother to turn around to face the ticked off Aidan.

"Good morning Aidan, I'm sorry that I had to bother you." He said with annoyance in his voice. I managed to open my eyes and saw Aidan leaning against the desk, facing me with his arms crossed, and a death glare across his face. His black, side-swipe hair was still neatly placed, as usual, but he wore a deep dark ruby colored hoodie that matched his eyes.

"What is this all about?" Aidan hissed. He never took his eyes off of me, which caused me to sink lower into the chair. _I'm dead._ Aidan shook his head slightly, which reminded me that vampires can read minds.

"Your human was caught in a fight today with another human." He opened his mouth to continue but Aidan interrupted. "Who is the human's owner?" I chuckled. _Owner. Nobody is my owner. _Aidan's glare turned into a 'I'm going to strangle you when we get out of here', type of glare.

"Javier." Lucifer said as he got up from his seat. I looked back over to Aidan and he had his eyes closed and a irritated look on his face. Lucifer continued, "Some one called me saying that Victoria punched Samantha." Aidan's eyes flashed open and his death glare returned.

My mouth opened and I began to talk before I even thought about what I was going to say. "She started it, all I was doing was introducing myself and she started to make rude comm--" Aidan held up his hand, telling me to stop.

Lucifer walked around his desk and stood next to me and Aidan."I am hoping that you will deal with her so I don't have to." I closed my eyes as Aidan muttered with amusement in his voice, "Oh trust me, I will." I shivered at what he said.

"Okay, well, we are done here." Lucifer started walking off to the side as Aidan bounced of the desk and grabbed my arm, pulling me from the chair. When he opened the door, his fingers dug deeper into my skin causing me to cry out in pain. His cold breath was tickling in my ear as he said, "That was a stupid move you pulled." He started pulling me next to him down the hallway where there were amused and shocked faces lined up against the wall. Some were coming out of rooms, interested in what was going on. When we reached the end of the hallway where the stairs were, we made a left down another hallway that I didn't seem to notice before.

Down the hallway were doors on both sides, and lanterns in between each door, but it didn't create a lot of light. He stopped quickly in front of a dark door that had the number 'five' on it. He took out a key from out of his pocket and began unlocking the door. _What's with locking doors?_

"It's to keep idiots like you out." He hissed. When he opened the door he shoved me inside the pitch black room causing me to fall to the ground. I felt a sharp, burning feeling forming on my knees. _Rug burn._

I saw Aidan's black figure in the doorway, and then it was gone when he closed the door. I was now in a pitch black room with a killer, that was about to kill me. I sat, frozen in place. My legs and arms didn't seem to want to cooperate with me, and decided that I was going to die in the spot I was in. My breathing became quicker breaths and my heart began to race.

I sat there, hyperventilating at the thought that I wasn't able to see anything at all. Also, with the room being so quiet, it was as if I was in the room alone. All I could hear was the quick beats of my heart in my ear, and my quick short breaths that was making me feel dizzy.

_Aidan? Ar-Are yo-you in here? _I thought.

A large hand grabbed my neck and lifted me off the ground, which caused me to wrap my hands around his arms. He quickly walked me over to the wall, slamming me against it. But thankfully he set me down, and released my neck, but still had a hold of my jaw. I took deep breaths, thankful for being able to breath again, but they weren't normal breaths, because I knew this was just the beginning of a slow death.

"Why do you have to be such a pest?" He whispered in my ear; his cold breath sending shivers down my spine. I didn't answer. I knew that anything I would say would surely cause me to die quicker.

Aidan wasn't satisfied with me not saying anything so he lifted my head off of the wall with my jaw and brought it back against the wall, creating little flashes of dots in my vision. But tears started to replace those dots in my eyes, and started to fall down my cheek.

"Why haven't you killed me yet?" I screamed, with panic in my voice.

His grip around my jaw got tighter. "You know... I was asking myself the same sort of question the other day." He chuckled. I took a deep breath and got the nerve to ask, "It's because of my father right? If you change me, I might be able to walk in the sun, and you will be a more powerful vampire." It was barely a whisper, out of my mouth, but I knew he heard it.

His fingers dug into my jaw which caused me to grab a hold of his arms to try to pry him off of me. But I felt his muscles tense as he said, "_Who_ told you all that?" He snapped. I knew I must have said the wrong thing. Not only was I going to be dead, but Grace was going to be too. "I don't-don't know. I heard it while walking in the halls." I quickly lied. A low deep growl formed in the back of his throat, causing my legs to get weak. I gulped, and knew this was the end of my life.

I felt his arms bend and I knew he was leaning in. His cold breath was tickling my neck and I heard his growl much louder than before. I let out a last deep breath, as I felt two needles pierce the skin of my neck, but as soon as I let out a scream, those two needles were gone from my neck, and the breathing appeared again.

"Get out." Aidan whispered in my ear as he let go of my jaw. But my body had a different idea, it didn't want to move. I was stuck in place, and still in shock of what had just happened. _I'm still alive._ I thought in disbelief.

"Get out!" He yelled furiously, which caused me to jump in fear. I ran forward and hoped that I was going in the right direction. I touched the wall and tried to feel for the door, which I quickly came across the doorknob. I opened it immediately and ran out, and ran down the hallway, leading me to the stairs. Tears were still forming and falling from my eyes as I ran up the stairs, which caused me to run into somebody. I couldn't see quite clear so I rubbed my eyes.

"Victoria, your alive!" Grace grabbed a hold of me and hugged me, almost squeezing me to death. She backed away with a worried look on her face. "Oh, I'm so sorry. That Samantha girl, she is such a pain. I should have helped you fight her." I shook my head, telling her that, that would have been a bad idea.

"I'm fine. Just keep me away from her." I began walking up the stairs again but Grace grabbed a hold of my arm, so I stopped. She walked closer and started to study my neck, which reminded me that Aidan had bit me.

"He...almost, totally bit you." I turned towards her and flashed her a confused glance. "He didn't bite you, he just punctured the skin a little bit. It's so small, it will probably heal in a day. Which healing won't matter because it's a full moon tomorrow night." She stated.

When I processed what she said, I grabbed a hold of her shoulders. "What did you just say?" I asked furiously.

"Ohh, you don't know." She half smiled and finished her sentence, "It's a full moon tomorrow night."

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**Hoped you liked it. I'll try to write another chapter this week if I don't feel like studying. :P**

**Thank you all, for the reviews, it makes me sooo happy!**

**:D**


	15. Five Heroes

**I am finally able to update. Yay. :**

**This chapter will be different, I'll be going back and forth between Daniel and Victoria. **

**But I really wanted to say, thank you to everyone who has written a review. It inspires me to write faster. **

**So thank you sooooo much!**

**:D**

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Daniel's p.o.v. 

I sat there staring at the blank screen t.v., thinking about Victoria. She has been gone for a week now and me and the boys can't find any traces of her anywhere. The only thing we know is that she was taken by a vampire.

"Daniel, you have been staring at that screen for an hour now. Don't you think you should go and try to get some sleep? You have been up for about three days." Kyle came in and sat next to me on the couch. _Why would I want to sleep? I need to find her._ I thought.

"Daniel, you know that me and the boys are looking for her, you _need _some sleep. We need you to have full energy if the '_thing'_ comes back." Kyle looked at me with tired eyes. I shook my head in agreement, when the door bell rang. Kyle shot up from the couch. "I'll get it." He opened the door and Mike, Brent, and Caleb following right behind them; entered the house. I slowly got up from the couch, still sore from the night before from when I ran all day in the woods. I waved, "Hey." I said, with just a little enthusiasm. They all walked over to where I was standing and gave me a brotherly hug, one by one before they sat down. I sat next to Kyle on the couch and waited for maybe some new news about Victoria.

Mike was the first one to talk. "Are you sure she was kidnapped by a vampire?" I shook my head, "Yeah when I went out on the back porch, there was a smell of a vampire, and it was really strong." I closed my eyes and re-encountered the night that she was kidnapped, which caused a shiver to run up my spine.

"Hmm," Mike closed his eyes and began to think, but Caleb quickly interrupted Mike's train of thought, "Well that would explain why we couldn't smell her in the air before. The vampire must have covered up her scent. Am I right?" He asked, excitedly. "Yeah that could be why." Mike agreed.

I didn't feel like saying anything to them. I was too angry with myself about not finding her already. _We should have found her already!_ I thought angrily. I felt all eyes go on me, but I didn't care, not right now. All that mattered was to find Victoria, fast before shes gone, forever.

"Daniel, you know that we are trying our best to find her. Also that we won't give up till we do find her." I looked over to Mike and a friendly smile appeared on his face, telling me that there was hope.

The phone started to ring in the kitchen, so Kyle got up to answer it.

"What about Faith?" I looked over to Brent which his head was stuck in a book, like always. "What about her?" I asked. His book fell down into his lap. "Can't Faith see the future? Why didn't she see this coming? Can't she see where Victoria is now?" Brent said, sounding a little irritated.

I became angry. "Don't you think we already tried that? Faith can only see the future of someone if she is touching them. Faith never liked Victoria so she never went around her before she got kidnapped. So don't talk like you know everything." Brent just stared, and then went back to reading his book.

I sighed. _I should have been watching out for her. I should have been there to protect her. She's my little sister._.. I closed my eyes, hoping this was all a bad dream. But it was quickly interrupted by Kyle rushing into the family room where we all were.

"You wouldn't believe this! A girl just called saying that she knew where Victoria was." I got up from where I was seated and got excited about the new information. "And...?" I asked eagerly.

"She is about an hour and a half away from here at a school called...umm.. Commit cement, new view.. something like that." Kyle laughed, but I froze. "That's not good." They all turned to face me with concerned looks. "Why?" Mike dared to ask.

"Theres a school about 2 hours away thats called, _Commencement nouveau_, which is what Kyle was trying to say. It means New beginning." They all continued to stare at me with concerned, but blank looks on their faces, so I continued. "It's a school where vampires take to claim and change a human. If Victoria is there--" Mike interrupted, "Then she is being changed into a vampire." They all froze in place, thinking to themselves, including me. "But they only do the claiming thing during a full moon." Caleb said.

I rushed over to the front door and looked at the calendar that was placed next to it. I searched the date, and saw the full white circle in the corner of the square. _The full moon is tonight..._ I thought. I snapped my head around and Mike seemed to be a step ahead, heading towards me and the door, with everyone following.

"We need to go, _now._" Mike growled, "We need to find this stupid vampire, and _kill him_."

--------------------

Normal p.o.v.

The dinner line in the cafeteria was going extremely slow, but it didn't matter, my stomach was too upset to eat anything. Tonight was the night that I was turned into a vampire, and the night when I become a wife to a bloodsucker.

I sighed, which caused Grace to turn around. "Oh Victoria, Chill out. You'll be fine, and it will all be over with before you know it. Trust me." She turned back around and started to retrieve stuff off of the trays where they had different sorts of sandwiches, and other foods. I past everything, except I grabbed a little cup of apple juice. As we walked over to the tables I could feel all the eyes that were staring at me, and I just knew they were talking about me and about what happened yesterday. We walked over to a table that was separated from the rest of the tables, and in a corner and sat down.

"Did you see all those people staring at me?" I asked in a low voice.

She began unwrapping her turkey sandwich, "Who cares about them, their just jealous." She stated. I laughed in disbelief, but after swallowing my mouth full of apple juice.

"Why would they be jealous?" I asked, bewildered.

"I told you that one night, he is a really powerful vampire. Plus, he's _extremely _handso--" Grace's voice was cut off, so I looked at her and her eyes were locked on something else. I turned and followed her gaze, but quickly turned back around from the sight of the Samantha girl heading our way. _Great, here she comes to get me into trouble again._

I looked at Grace and she was now focused on eating her sandwich, which I could clearly tell that she was trying to ignore Samantha.

"Ahem." Samantha's voice was annoying to me, she sounds so snotty and bratty.

I turned to face her, not afraid to punch her again. _I'm getting changed soon anyways, so who cares? _I chuckled at that thought, and also at how crazy I was becoming.

"Okay, all I wanted to say was, if you ever punch me again, or even say anything to me _ever, ever_ again. Aidan just said that all I have to do is tell him and he will deal with you." She gave me a bratty smile, which made me irritated.

Which she noticed, and addressed it, "Aww, getting angry? Do you feel like you want to punch me again?" I shot up from my chair and stared directly in her eyes, and I began to notice the bruise that was forming in the corner of her eye. I laughed.

She started to look confused and asked, "What are you laughing at?"

I laughed some more. _Maybe I __**am **__going crazy..._

"Your bruise. You know... I can make it all better." I said with a mischievous smile.

Samantha crossed her arms and started to giggle, but that quickly turned into an evil look, "Please, tell me. How would you do that?"

I lifted my hand and poked her bruise, "I can give you one on the other eye so it'll match." I heard Grace cough, and saw her in the corner of my eye get up from her seat. She grabbed my arm and pulled me back down to my seat. "Don't make another mistake." Her eyes flashed behind Samantha and I saw Aidan talking to some other vampires, but occasionally peering over in our direction.

I lowered my head as I said, "Samantha, I'm sorry, just please, please leave me alone." She laughed, and in the corner of my eye I saw her slowly walk away.

I looked back up to Grace, and she smiled. "I'm proud of you Victoria. I don't want to see you murdered right here...I'm still eating." We both laughed. "Thanks alot." I said sarcastically. She took her last bite and looked at her watch, "We got two more hours." I flashed her a look and gulped.

"They don't wait till midnight or anything?" I asked, with a shaky voice.

She paused, "No. They do it when it's completely dark which is usually around seven o' clock. Well, they start the 'dinner part' around 6:30."

"What do they do at the dinner?"

"The only thing I know, is that they talk about the history of vampires. Oh and--" She lowered her voice as she said, "They do something that nobody is allowed to know about if their not a vampire." She sat up, and talked normally. "So I guess it gets pretty bad in there."

I lowered my head and lightly smashed my head against the table. "My life is over." Grace laughed, "Hey, you never know, you might have a hero that will come and rescue you." I picked my head off of the table and she smiled. "Yeah right." I said, as I lowered my head and smashed it against the table again.

---------------------

Daniels p.o.v.

"How long till we get there?" Caleb asked. This is about the fourth time he asked this, but at this point nobody said anything; trying to ignore him.

He grunted in frustration. "Were almost there, about fifty more minutes. So stop asking." Mike said with irritation in his voice.

I looked out the window and saw the bright green trees flash by at a fast pace. Time seemed to go by so slow, I just wanted to get there and get Victoria. Mike was driving, he said I looked too tired to drive. I argued when he said this, if I was driving I could have been there already, he was driving just too slow.

"By the time we get there it's going to be dark out." Kyle stated as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Yeah, then we will be more vulnerable to the vampires." Brent said behind his book. The car became silent, Kyle and Brent were waiting for me or Mike to say something, but I wasen't going to.

"We will wait till morning."

I snapped my head in Mike's direction, and stared at the rear-view mirror.

"What do you mean, morning? We can't wait that long, the full moon is tonight." I stated.Caleb who was sitting in the middle between me and Brent, started to fidget with his fingers, which he looked as if he was nervous.

"Daniel, we can't go tonight. All the vampires that are there can attack us and we will be outnumbered." I wanted to interrupt so I wouldn't have to hear what Mike had to say next, but I ran out of things to say. "Would you rather have Victoria with you or that stupid vampire?" Mike asked. I knew the answer but I couldn't say it, I did want her to be with us than the vampire. _But I don't want her to be turned into one._ The car fell silent, nobody was sure on what to say to that. I looked back out of the window and everything started to get darker. The bright green trees were now turning into a dark green.

"Would you rather have Victoria as a vampire and with you, so you could take care of her the right way, or would you rather have her be a vampire and living with a stupid vampire that might turn her against everybody but their kind?" I pictured in my head, Victoria going around eating and killing humans. I shuddered at the image.

"Can you please get that image out of you head." Caleb said, with fear in his voice.

I looked around and everyone except Mike had their eyes closed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to." I muttered. I looked down at my watch and it read: 6:24 pm. My body started to shake with nervousness, and sweat started to form in the palms of my hands.

"How much longer?" asked Caleb. I could tell everybody was waiting for the answer from Mike. We were all anxious about getting Victoria, and killing who ever took her.

"About twenty minutes. We will have to park the car far away from the school, and then we will change into our wolf form in the morning. It will be faster." Mike finally said.

"We haven't had this much action in a while." Kyle said while laughing.

"Yeah." I muttered quietly. My adrenaline started to pump through me, and my heart started to beat faster than usual.

-----------------------

Normal p.o.v.

The vampires were in their dining room. _It's almost time._ My heart began to race, butterflies started to form in the pit of my stomach and sweat started to trickle down the side of my head. Grace was standing next to me, looking perfectly fine, along with another girl named Kacy, but she wasn't looking too fine.

"Wow, you look nervous." Grace bounced off of the wall and stood in front of me, with a smile on her face.

"I do?" Grace shook her head.

"Well all of the other _normal_ people look the same as me." She crossed her arms, and pointed to herself. "Me? I'm not normal?" I laughed, and shook my head. "Well you know wh--" Grace was interrupted by some one opening a door from one of the rooms. Nobody has moved, or came out of any rooms since they put us in the hallway.

I looked over and a girl, maybe in her twenties, stood in front of the dining room door. "Ladies and Gentlemen, we will assign you to your rooms now." She had a sweet voice, but every time she opened her mouth, two sharp white teeth slipped out. So I backed as close to the wall as I could, and started to freak out. When I looked over to the girl next to me, she had a horrific look on her face, and her tan skin was now a pale white.

I got up off of the wall and stood behind Grace, close enough for her to hear me whisper. "I can't do this." She turned around and she looked at me with a sympathetic look. "I'm so sorry, I wish I could do something more." _What does that mean?_

"Something more?" I asked quietly. She smiled and started to laugh. "I snuck into Lucifer's office right before dinner and got information about you." My eyes widened as she continued, "I found out your phone number to your house and talked to someone named... Kyle I think." My heart dropped.

"You talked to Kyle?!? What did you say?" I asked excited, but still whispering. "I told him where the school was, and that your here." A smiled appeared on my face, as excitement ran through my veins.

"I--I don't know what to say! Did he say that hes coming?"

"Well... he didn't say if he was coming or not, but he hung up the phone real fast without saying goodbye or anything. So I think that means hes coming." I jumped up and down in excitement, and hugged Grace. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I whispered in her ear.

I backed away, after having a great idea. "When they come and get me, why don't you come with me?" I asked with eagerness in my voice. She paused and looked towards the floor. "I don't want to. Blaze actually loves me, and I love him." I didn't know what to say, so I just smiled.

"Grace Baldwin." The young vampire called. My heart went back to it's fast pace, and butterflies formed again.

"Well it's my turn, maybe. Hopefully he's not drunk again." She laughed as she hugged me. "I hope they get you in time. I'll never forget you _Tori_." She backed away, and gave me her usual smile. "I'll miss you." She then turned and started walking towards the young vampire.

I looked over to where Kacy was supposed to be, but she wasn't there. _She was called, or she just ran off, or maybe passed out and dragged somewhere--_ "Victoria Blaine." My heart dropped into the pit of my stomach. I closed my eyes, hoping, once again, that this was all a nightmare. "Victoria Blaine." She called again. I opened my eyes and noticed how the people who were left in the hallway were all staring in my direction, even the young vampire. So I had no choice but to start walking towards her. I was so nervous, I stumbled in the middle of the hallway; almost falling flat on my face. _Daniel! Kyle! Please come now._ When I reached her, she had a smirk on her face.

"Room five." She stated in a dull voice. I gulped. "You should know where that is." She said while laughing. I crossed my arms and slowly started walking towards the end of the hallway where the stairs were. I reached the stairs and turned left, just like before, and began walking towards 'room five'. In a distance I could hear faint screams, which were quickly gone after I put my hands over my ears.

When I got to room five, I stood place. _I guess their not coming for me, I'll be with Aidan forever._ I reached for the door handle and slowly opened the door. As It creaked open, I started walking towards the middle of the dark room. When I reached the middle, the door closed behind me, causing me to jump.

Surprisingly my heart was normal, and the butterflies were gone. _I don't care anymore. I can't do anything about it anyways. _

"Aidan, all I ask from you is that you get it over with." The lights flicked on, so I turned around. Aidan was standing next to the light switch, and the door. He was wearing all black, a black hoodie, black pants, and black boots. _Wow, interesting._ He started walking towards me, which caused me to slowly back up into the wall.

"Can--Can't you just knock me out or something?" I asked, with a shaky voice.

A smile appeared on his face, but it wasn't a friendly smile; his sharp fangs were in full view. "Well that wouldn't be as fun." He said. A shiver ran up my spine when he was inches away from me. _He's actually enjoying this. _

He shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, so what if I am."

I glared at him and gave him an evil look. "Your sick." I said with a disgusted tone.

He shrugged his shoulders once again, and came closer to my face as he whispered, "That's why I'm a vampire."

As I stared directly in his eyes, I began to notice that his eyes were more ruby than usual, but there were still black swirling around with the ruby.

"Your eyes--" I started, but Aidan quickly interrupted. "Don't worry about them." He leaned in closer towards my neck, his slow, cold breath was being blown on my neck. I closed my eyes and pictured Kyle and Daniel bursting through the door and tackling Aidan. I opened my eyes to find that my dream wasn't coming true, which made me upset, and made my faith disappear.

"You smell like--" He paused and took a deep breathe in. "-- Like.. honey." I was about to ask questions, but Aidan didn't waste anymore time. He bit me, sinking his sharp fangs deeper and deeper into my neck. I screamed in pain. It hurt a thousand times worse than last night when I almost got bit. I tried to push him off of me, out of instincts but he knocked my arms down. He was too strong.

A burning feeling started to take over my neck, and made its way through my body. I felt like I was on fire, and a thousand needles were poking me. Everything seemed to go wrong at the same time. I wanted to scream, but my throat was too sore, it even hurt when I breathed. Also, my heart started to feel like it wasn't working anymore, and at the same time my legs and arms didn't feel like they were attached to me. _He's killing me._

Seconds seem to go by so slowly, and he didn't seem like he was going to let up anytime soon. I closed my eyes and the image of Kyle and Daniel bursting through the door and saving me kept popping in my head, it was helping me through all of this. _Please Aidan stop. Please_. I begged. I opened my eyes to find him staring at me with bright ruby eyes, which there were no black swirls in them. _I didn't feel him stop..._ The pain was still going through my body, paralyzing everything. I was only standing because he was holding me up.

"Victoria, breathe." Aidan said, almost sounding as if he cared. "You need to breathe, your going to pass out." He added. The world started to spin and I felt like I was going to throw up. I looked Aidan straight in the eyes, and as blackness started to creep up on me, Aidan said one last thing. "Don't worry I'm here for you."

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**Hope you enjoyed the chapter. **

**Don't forget to review!**

**Thanks.**

**-Haha I just looked on my calender, and it's a full moon tomorrow night. Hehe.**

**:D**


	16. A Gift

**I finally updated. Yay. I have been busy, once again, (**what's new)**. I actually enjoyed writing this chapter, so I think you will enjoy reading it. :D**

**But I wanted to tell you guys this in the last chapter but I didn't, (**obviously)**, that this story is far from being over. I have so much ideas, and I can't wait till I write the upcoming chapters. (**sooo exciting.)

**Also I wanted to personally thank these people for writing one review or more, Alice Penn, Mystic-Ocean-lily, xBlacksould, Dark Vampire Goddess, rainstains tarte, ilovetwilight99, Mayu-Chan-Sakura, Only4Miken, KMD3271, BubbleSpaz2512, GoodnightMoon7, Rayenosh, suchasadparting, Bella Sangue, Aka Fuyum penprincesswrite123, VampFangs1001, Queen SixSix VI, Morgans-ray-of-light, Punk2Cute, Paige Brown, arya-v. Thank you soo much, I really appreciate it.**

**Well enjoy.**

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I slowly moved onto my side, untangling my legs from the silky sheets. Pain shot through my body causing me to cringe, making me realize that what happened last night wasen't a dream at all. My eyes widened, and I felt a rush of fear flow through me as I noticed a figure lying in the bed next to me, and out of instincts I jumped out of bed, ignoring the pain shooting through me. The figure in the bed slowly turned on its side, which moved the covers, revealing Aidan. His eyes were opened and smile crept upon his face.

"Good morning, Tori." He said with sing-song voice.

I quickly smiled and turned to open the door that was behind me, which I knew was my way out.

"Where are you going?" I turned back around and saw him get out of bed. He was wearing long black p.j. pants, without a shirt. His extremely nice muscles were in plain sight, but I wanted to show no interest so I just shrugged my shoulders and started opening the door. Suddenly, he was in front of the door in seconds, causing the door knob to slip out of my hand.

"Don't you remember what happened last night?" He asked, while protecting the door.

I reached up and felt a cloth covering up the two holes that were in my neck. I sighed, and lowered my head.

"Yes, I remember." I mumbled quietly. He brought up his hand, and from under my chin he lifted my head so I was able to look him straight in his bright ruby red eyes.

"Victoria, don't worry about anything. We are going to have a great life together--" I quickly interrupted. "Please don't talk to me about anything that has to do with me-- or you." I grabbed his arm and pulled his hand away from my chin and added, "Where's the bathroom?" Aidan had a flat expression on his face, and pointed in the direction of the bathroom.

As I reached the black door, a flash of Aidan's sympathetic face from last night, and him stating that he was here for me, crept up into my mind. _Why is he caring so much?_

"Theres an outfit on the counter that you can wear." Aidan added before I closed the door.

The bathroom was really nice. Everything was a maroon color, with bright lights outlining the mirror. A shower covered up by a black curtain was off to the left, next to a toilet. I picked up the clothes that was resting on the counter which was a green t-shirt and a pair of jeans with some holes in them where the knees would be. As I was putting on my jeans, I felt something clinging to one of my fingers, so I quickly finished putting my jeans on and studied the the thing around my ring finger.

It was a gold band ring, that fit nicely around my finger, with a ruby colored heart shaped stone in the middle, and small diamonds around the heart. _It's-- It's beautiful. But... this isn't mine. _

I heard Aidan chuckle in the bedroom as he said, "It's a gift from me."

After staring at the beautiful ring for a while, I began putting on the green shirt, which I noticed to be mine, and I slipped on the pair of black socks that fell out of the jeans earlier. As I finished putting the socks on, and turned to head out the door, I got a quick glance of myself in the mirror. I turned to take a second look at myself, expecting the same messy wavy haired girl, but got someone totally different. Staring back at me was a beautiful pale girl, with silky, wavy brown hair that went past her shoulders. I reached up and touched the hair that wasen't mine. _I look... pretty._ I closed my eyes and leaned in closer towards the mirror so I could study the small features that I wasen't able to see from a far. _I'm-- I'm a vampire... now. _

The thought of me having sharp fangs and piercing ruby red eyes caused a shiver to run up my spine, but I knew I had to face the facts sometime. So I quickly opened my eyes and saw black irises with only a few speckles of ruby red in them. Relief seemed to wash over me, but quickly disappeared when I knew I had to see the razor sharp fangs now. I slowly smiled revealing the tips of the fangs, but immediately closed my mouth as tears crept into my eyes. My vision became blurry, and I quietly began to weep, and hoped that Aidan wouldn't hear. _I'm a monster._ My weeping turned into loud sobs. _Daniel and Kyle would never accept me. They would kill me..._

I wiped the tears that haven't fallen yet, away from my eyes and looked at my reflection in the mirror. Beside my reflection was Aidan standing at the door way, wearing a t-shirt now, and him slowly walking towards me with his arms spread wide. I turned around and he wrapped me into a bear hug as he whispered in my ear, "Shh, It'll be all right. It's not _that_ bad. I'll teach you everything that you need to know." He turned and kissed me on the side of my head. "...I'll accept you."

All of this started to confuse me. _A couple days ago he wanted to kill me, well... almost killed me. Now he's caring for me? _I thought to myself.

I pushed him off of me and walked into the bed room to go and slip on my shoes. I sat on the bed and slipped on my already tied DC shoes and began walking towards the door. In the corner of my eye, Aidan didn't move an inch since I pushed him.

I opened the door and quickly turned the corner, running into Alaric.

"Oh, good morning Victoria. You are looking beautiful today. How are you feeling?" Alaric's voice aggravated me. It was just too happy, and sing-song like.

"Fine, I just want to get out of here." I began walking around Alaric but someone grabbed my shoulder from behind me. I turned to see the stressed Aidan standing with his one arm on my shoulder.

"Tori, I didn't want to tell you this till' later, but it seems that you want to get out of here faster than I predicted." Aidan paused, taking a deep breath before he continued, "were moving to Italy." The blood in my body seemed to have rushed from my head all the way down to my feet, causing me to almost fall to the ground.

"Were--," I gulped and took in a deep breath. "Were leaving now?"

Aidan shook his head and smiled.

"Alaric already has your stuff in the car. Were taking one of Alaric's private planes, and we'll be living in a castle." He said with excitement in voice. He flipped me around to face the smiling Alaric and pushed me towards him. "Go with Alaric now, I have to finish some stuff with Lucifer."

Alaric grabbed the back of my arm and led me down the hallway and past the stair case. When we reached the main hallway that had all the main rooms, a picture flashed in my head from last night, of all the humans that were waiting to be called. So goosebumps formed on my arm, causing the hair on my arms to stand.

All around me were people, or vampires, that stopped their conversations, or just stopped in their tracks and stared at me. As I walked past them, I could hear all sorts of whispers. All of them jumbled but I was able to pick out only a few. "Wow, she's not dead." "She's beautiful." "Ugh, she's so lucky she gets Aidan." All of the voices inside of my head were giving me a headache, so I shook my head seeing if that would work, and it did; all of it was gone.

When we reached the end of the large hallway, we stopped next to the front door. Alaric released his grip from the back of my arm and turned to face me with, yet again, another smile on his face.

"The castle in Italy is fantastic." He stated before leaning up against the wall.

I crossed my arms before muttering, "Just great." I continued to stare at Alaric, amused at his personality. But the whole 'Aidan being nice to me' was aggravating me.

"I am extremely surprised that you have not pounded me with alot of questions."

_Well there isn't anything else to ask about--_

"Wait-- there is one." Alaric bounced himself off of the wall and inched closer to me. "Yes?" He asked, excitedly, as if I was telling him some deep dark secret.

_This is my chance._ "Why is Aidan all of a sudden caring about me?" Alaric's smile disappeared, realizing that my question wasen't that exciting and leaned up against the wall again.

He sighed, "At the times he was mean to you, all you were to him was an annoying human. Now that he has bitten you, you are apart of him, his _wife_. So he cares about you." I remembered the ring that was wrapped around my ring finger, and I became egar to ask him about it.

"So this ring that Aidan gave me is a engagement ring?" Alaric laughed.

"Not at all. Every vampire gives their human that they change, something. In which this case, he gave you a ring. That ring there, is a one of a kind. The stone is made up of Aidan's scent, which you can not smell because you are a young vampire and not all of your abilities have kicked in yet. But when other vampires smell two scents mixed together, they will know that you have been claimed. They will especially know Aidan's scent."

I was still confused at how the whole ring thing worked so I continued to ask questions. "How did they get the scent on the ring... or whatever."

Alaric rolled his eyes but still continued to answer, "A simple spell, that's all." He shrugged his shoulders as if a 'simple spell' was something as easy as breathing, but I didn't feel like continuing playing twenty questions, so I turned my back to him so I was facing the hallway. Aidan was walking in our direction with Lucifer walking slightly ahead of him towards his office. As they both were going into his office Aidan noticed me staring at him, so he held up one finger telling me that it will only take a minute.

Something was still bothering me but I couldn't quite figure it out. I felt like I was forgetting something, and I didn't know what it was. But then it hit me like a ton of bricks. _I have to say good-bye to Grace!_ I began walking away, forgetting that Alaric was there, but he seemed to notice me leaving.

"Victoria! Wait a minute, there is something that I need to tell you." I stopped in my tracks and slowly turned on my heals. All I wanted to do at that point was see how Grace was doing and to say my last good-bye. I walked back over to Alaric with crossed arms, and waited.

"Umm, I do not know how to put this." Alaric started to look really nervous, and took in a deep breath. "Grace is dead."

My breathing stopped, and my arms fell out of it's crossed position. All of my legs and arms seemed to have become weak, and I felt like I was about to throw up.

"What--what do you mean?" I managed to say, with tears forming in my eyes, but I quickly wiped them away. Alaric stepped closer and put one hand on my shoulder, trying to help me stay standing.

"Lucifer found out that she went into his office and called someone on his phone, so he had her killed.-- I am so sorry." I was speechless, and my legs couldn't hold me up any longer. My knees buckled but someone from behind caught me before I reached the ground. I didn't have the strength to turn my head around to see who it was.

"I'm so sorry Tori. I wish I could have done something." It was Aidan's voice. He was the one holding me up.

Something shot through my body and it caused me to stand on my own. Then something in my head told me that Grace wasen't dead. Maybe it was me going crazy, but I didn't care I ripped myself from Aidan's grip and turned to run down the hallway.

"She's not dead!" I screamed. Aidan wrapped his arms around my waist, keeping me from running any further. "Let go of me! She's alive I know it!" Tears were falling down my cheeks causing everything to be a blur.

"Shh, Tori, theres nothing you can do. Shes gone." Aidan whispered in my ear. My breathing started to calm down, and the tears started to slow, but Aidan didn't let go of me. Instead, he turned me so I was facing him. He pulled my face into his chest and began combing through my hair with his fingers. "Shhh.." He said with calm flowing through his voice. "It'll be alright."

He let go of me so I was able to look at him straight in the eye as a smile appeared on his face. He lifted the black hood part of his jacket over his head, so that it was covering up his face. I looked over to Alaric and he had the hood part of his black cloak up and over his head also. I turned back to Aidan and he leaned in and kissed me on the forehead before he said, "Are you ready to go?" I slowly shook my head 'yes', but didn't bother to make the first move. Aidan seemed to have seen the pain expressed on my face because in an instant he was holding me bridal style. I rested my head against his hard chest, and felt him breathing which seemed to comfort me. Alaric and Aidan were having a conversation to themselves, which I didn't bother to listen. I was too distracted of the fact that my good friend was gone. _Grace died all because she was helping me. _Aidan's breathing stopped and I felt his eyes staring back down at me.

"What do you mean?" He asked. I lifted my head off of his shoulder as tears started to form once again.

"Grace called Kyle and Daniel and told them where I was. That's why she died..." I stated to myself, forgetting that what I just said out loud should have never been spoken of.

"You mean Grace called your brothers and told them where you were?" Aidan hissed. I didn't answer this time, my body froze in fear. Aidan turned to Alaric and shook his head and Alaric grabbed the door handle. But they were forgetting one thing.

"Wait!" I screamed, I almost jumped out of Aidan's arms. "We haven't figured out if I can go in the sun or not." They ignored me and Alaric opened the front door revealing the dark clouds covering up the sun and the usual bright blue sky.

"Your abilities and weaknessess won't come till like tomorrow. It's not sunny anyways." Aidan stated as we walked down the large stone steps towards Alaric's car. Aidan opened the back seat door and set me down inside. He closed the door quickly and forcefully, and opened his door and got in the passengers seat, followed by Alaric getting in the drivers seat.

Aidan pounded his fist on the dash board. "I can't believe this. They are probably hiding somewhere around here." There was an awkward pause as we drove down the long driveway leading us to the gate.

"Would you want us to go back and get other vampires to help if anything happens?" I froze in place. _Please don't hurt Kyle or Daniel. _

Aidan grunted before saying, "No, we can deal with two lousy werewolves." Something formed in the bottom of my throat causing me to say something.

"Please don't do anything to Kyle or Daniel. If they do anything, it's only because they care and they want me back. Just please, please don't hurt them."

I heard Aidan softly chuckle and saw his head shake in disgust. When we reached the gate, Aidan locked the doors, and turned around in his seat to face me.

"Don't worry Victoria, I'll make sure nothing happens to you." He turned back around and I just rolled my eyes.

As we were driving down the long road, heading to where ever we were going, rain started to pour down onto the car. The droplets were so big, that when the droplets hit the car it sounded like a loud drum, and we weren't able to see very far ahead of us. I quickly put on my seat belt, and looked out the windshield. I wasen't sure if it was my imagination or not, but a big black dot was standing in the middle of the road. Alaric didn't seem to have notice so I screamed in fear, "Watch out for--" Alaric quickly pressed on the brakes causing my body to fling forward and back into the seat with a powerful force; knocking the breath out of me.

Everything seemed to have happened so quickly. The car was turning off the road and the next thing I knew we were rolling on the ground. I covered up my head with my arms, shielding me from the roof that flattened. As the car was rolling, it felt like it was never going to stop. Until it did, and I felt sharp pains shooting through me like knives, all through out my body. As my body started to shake with fear, my eyes were beginning to roll into the back of my head, but I tried to stay awake. Faint voices surrounded me, and the pounding of the rain on the car caused those voices to disappear. _Kyle, Daniel, please help._ I manged to think.

As my eyes began rolling back into my head for the last time, a loud bang came from the door next to me. I forced my eyes open and painfully moved my head to the side to see Daniel pulling metal scraps out of the car.

"Do-- --ry I'-- g--- yo-- o-t." His voice was going in and out and I couldn't understand, but I didn't care, as long as he was here I was okay. He reached his arm over and unbuckled my seat belt and caught me in time. He pulled me out gently, but also quickly and started to walk towards the woods.

My head started to pound making me cringe in pain. Also the dark world around me started to spin and my eyes tried to close on me, but I made sure that I wouldn't pass out. My head gently rested against Daniels wet, hard chest, and I could feel vibrations in his chest as he talked.

"Mike you carry her. I need to change into my wolf form. But we need to leave fast, they will be healing soon." I looked up to see that he was staring at me with a smile spread from ear to ear.

"Tori, it's going to be alright. I just need to you stay awake, and I need you to hold onto Mike." He patted me on my cheeks with the back of his hand trying to keep me from passing out, but he then quickly turned me around and set me on top of something hairy and wet. I blinked a couple of times, and noticed how I was laying on Mike's back. He started to move slowly, so I gripped tighter; holding on for dear life.

_You made it. You guys came for me... _I thought, as I slipped into a deep, deep sleep.

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**I hope you liked it.**

**Don't forget to review! Please...and Thank you.**

**:D**


	17. Didn't Ask For This

**Okay, wow. I haven't updated in... umm.. forever, and I'm soo sorry. Please forgive me. I had some family issues, and school issues. So yeah. Don't be upset with me because I didn't update for about... a month. Be happy that I updated! But I made it longer, about 1,500 words longer. Haha. Okay well I'm done rambling on... so Enjoy!**

**:D**

**Read and review. Thank you.**

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I was hiding in a cave, water was dripping on the top of my head, causing shivers to run up my spine. I didn't exactly know who I was hiding from, but this person or thing sure was scaring me. I hugged my legs close together, and at every sound I flipped my head around, just making sure that this person, or thing wasn't around me. Not being able to see my surroundings made everything worse, so I had to rely on my hearing. 

"Victoria." A deep voice echoed through the cave, and my heart dropped.

_Aidan. _

I used all the strength I had to try and move from my crunched position, but my body wouldn't budge. My body clearly knew something my mind did not, because my body was tense, and shaking uncontrollably. It was as if my body was apart of someone else.

"Victoria, why are you so afraid of me?" He sounded hurt, but there was a little amusement in his voice, as if he's enjoying scaring me.

I didn't dare answer, my body didn't allow me to. But I remembered the fact that Aidan can read minds and that my body can't stop me from thinking anything.

_I don't know why I'm scared. I don't even know why I'm here. Please find me. _I thought.

A light flickered on which caused my eyes to close from the harsh light. As I opened them slowly, Aidan came into view, but something was different about him. I squinted my eyes, thinking that maybe it would help me figure out whats different about him.

Aidan had an evil looking grin spread across his face, with something dark seeping out of his mouth. I cocked my head to the side; hoping he would notice and tell me what it was.

"Don't be afraid of me Victoria." He took a step closer, and my body crawled back wards. "What I did to Josh was only to protect me and my people." My body froze in place, and my heart didn't feel like it was beating any more. A lump in my throat caused my breathing to become deep breaths, and I wasn't able to talk.

_J--Josh? Wha-what about him?_ I thought. I knew the answer but I didn't want to believe it. I was hoping he was going to say something other then what I was thinking.

"I had to kill him." His voice was quiet, and by the look on his face I could tell he was thinking of that day, and what happened. "I just had to!" His voice became loud as he finished, and it caused me to stand up.

I leaned against the cave wall; my body was paralyzed. Aidan seemed to have noticed my reaction, and began taking steps closer to me with a sincere look on his face.

"Don't be afraid of me. I don't want you to be afraid." When he was arms length away he reached up and gently held his hand up against my chin; practically holding me up.

The thick liquid that was seeping out of his mouth, that I couldn't notice before became clear to me, and it hit me like a ton of bricks.

_Aidan is that...Josh's blood? _

I began backing away from him before he could answer. The thick liquid could only be one thing, and that was Josh's blood, or someone else's. I slowly stumbled my way over to the other side of the cave, in which he didn't make a move. He only lowered his arm down to his side, and he let his head fall to his chest; looking ashamed.

"No, this is not Josh's blood. It's--" He turned around to face me. A soft, but hurt look spread across his beautiful face, which created my heart to beat faster.

"It's-- Daniel, and... Kyle's--" I covered my ears, and closed my eyes before I could hear the last part.

_No! It can't be true. They are alive and fine._ I thought with anger seeping through my mind. My legs became weak and I fell to the hard, rocky ground and ignored the pain that shot through my legs. I opened my eyes but kept my ears covered, and saw that Aidan was standing next to a pile of bodies. The bodies were big enough to be Daniel and Kyle.

My heart dropped into my stomach, and it felt like it stopped working. My lungs began to give up and I could feel my body shutting down on me. Adrenaline quickly flowed through my veins, and my mind kept telling me over and over to kill Aidan, but I knew I wouldn't have the strength because at this moment I was either passing out or dieing.

"I hope that one day you will feel what they felt as you were killing them. But I hope you painfully suffer more than they did. You will pay, Aidan..." My body slowly shut down, and I could feel my heart take one last beat, and my lungs taking one last breath.

_I never did, and never will love you._ I thought lastly as I slipped away into the pit of darkness.

"Tori!" Something cold and wet splashed on my face, causing me to come back into reality. I opened my eyes before any more water was splashed on me, or before anything else happened to me. I went to move my arms so I could rub the water from my eyes, but they were tied down. When my eyes became clear of the water, I saw that my arms were tied with a rope to a chair, and also my legs. I looked up and around me stood three guys. Mike, Caleb, and a guy I did not know.

"Where---where am I?" I managed to say. I looked back and forth between Mike and Caleb; ignoring the 'new guy'.

Mike smiled, "Your at my place, in the basement." I closed my eyes; feeling mentally exhausted from my horrific dream.

"Where's Daniel, and Kyle?" I asked just to make sure that everything was a dream, even though I knew the truth, my heart was beating fast; waiting for an answer.

"They're over at your house, watching Abigail and Andrew." Mike said while walking away. He sat in a chair that was seated across the room from me, and Caleb and the 'new guy' followed; sitting in other seats.

I looked back down at the ropes, and began wondering why I was tied up. My mind was too mentally exhausted to think of a reason why so I just asked. "Why am I tied up? Is it because I kick and punch in my sleep?" I made a half laugh, and a smile that quickly vanished.

"No... don't you remember what happened tonight?" Caleb said slowly, talking as if I was stupid.

I sat and thought of the events that happened earlier tonight, and my body sank lower into the seat. "Oh." I looked back down at my arms and noticed white cloth bandages covering up a part of my arm. On some parts of the bandages, there were small dots of blood seeping from underneath. "You guys think that I'll try to kill you, or hurt you. You don't trust me." I quietly muttered.

Mike shook his head. "No, it's not that we don't trust _you._ We just don't trust the vampire side of you. " He shrugged his shoulders. "Your a new born in the vampire world, and originally new born vampires are extremely dangerous." He lowered his head.

I didn't know what to say to that, and I guessed they didn't either, so there was a long moment of silence, and awkwardness, until the 'new guy' broke it.

"You reek of vampire." The 'new guy' scrunched up his nose and fanned his hand in front of his face. I turned to look in his direction and gave him a dirty look, and wondered why he was even here.

"And you are...?" I simply asked.

"Whoa look at her eyes. Their like pink." He stated, and sounding dumb.

"You are...?" I asked again, but with irritation seeping through my voice.

He moved in his seat, looking uncomfortable, and stated his name proudly. "The names Collin." Collin had short spiky, dirty blond hair that matched with his big hazel eyes. He was about the same height of all the other guys, maybe even taller. His tan skin was clear and smooth looking, and he had nice muscles in which his tight black shirt formed perfectly, showing every detail.

"Well Collin... you don't have to be here, so you can leave." I said in a matter-of-fact voice. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.

"Tori, stop. Daniel ordered for us to stay with you till' they get back, so leave Collin alone." Mike said in a low voice; almost as if he's growling.

I fell back into my seat, feeling defeated and closed my eyes, which immediately, I was pounded with memories of the last time me and Aidan spent together, and the car crash that got me out of the whole situation with Aidan. I began wondering what Aidan was doing now, and if he was looking for me, or if he was off to Italy to live in the "fantastic" castle with Alaric.

I couldn't wonder for long, for I was interrupted by the sounds of foot steps coming down the wooden staircase. I opened my eyes and Daniel, followed by Kyle and another new guy were in the basement with the rest of us. Luckily the basement was big enough for all these huge guys, plus me, and we didn't feel like a pack of sardines.

Kyle stopped to talk to Mike while Daniel rushed over to my side with an expression that a child would have seeing mickey mouse for the first time.

"Victoria, your awake." His arms were spread wide, coming in for a hug until Kyle called his name, in which Daniel paused and let his arms fall to his side.

"It's so good to see you. I haven't seen you in forever." He seemed to have gotten distracted because he began turning around, in the direction of the guys. "Daniel wait." Pain shot through my arm as I tried to reach for him, forgetting that my arm was attached to the chair.

He turned back towards me with a questioned look on his face, waiting for me to say something.

"How long have I been gone? I lost track of time when I was away from the family."

"Eight days."He sighed, and began walking off before I could say anything else.

_Eight days... I sure have missed you guys. _All of the guys, minus the new ones, turned to look at me after reading my mind, and smiled in unison before they all disappeared; as I fell into a deep sleep.

My eyes shot open, revealing Daniel, Kyle, Mike and Caleb all sitting around me, just staring. I shot them a confused, but irritated look.

"Jeez, somebody woke up in a nasty mood." Of course Kyle had to say something annoying. It's just his type of personality. A big, ignorant, idiotic, dog explains him perfectly.

"How are you feeling Tori?" asked Daniel. He was seated closest to me with his feet propped up on the wall; looking relaxed.

I didn't feel like having a conversation, but I had so many questions to ask.

"I could be better." I muttered under my breath. I had the biggest urge to move and to be able to stretch but I knew they wouldn't allow it. "Am I going to stay like this forever?"

Mike chuckled, "I hope not. I don't want a vampire girl living in my basement." Daniel let his feet fall to the floor and shot him a look. "No you will not be like this forever. We are hoping that you will be able to live back at home again, and go to school."

My body tensed up, and my mind began to wonder how the days at school would be with other people. "What are you talking about? I can't go to school." I was appalled at the thought of them making me go to school, which would just make it easier to hurt... _humans_.

"Why?" Kyle asked with a mouth full of peanut butter sandwich, which smelled from where I was sitting.

"I-It would be dangerous, I could hurt someone." My voice was quiet, which I'm sure they could tell I was afraid of what could happen.

Daniel got up from his seat and went down on one of his knees so he was able to look directly at me."Tori, we would never put you, or anyone else in harm, that's why we're going to train you." I picked up my head and looked around and Mike and Caleb were shaking their heads in agreement.

"Wha-What do you mean train me? Train me to do what?"

Daniel walked over to the refrigerator, opening the door letting the cold air slip out into the air conditioning air. Kyle jumped from his seat, "Are you sure we should be doing this now? I don't think she's ready." He walked over to the open refrigerator and the confused Daniel; trying to persuade him not to do whatever he wanted to do. They both whispered to each other back in forth, which I was not able to hear one word.

_When is the stupid vampire 'abilities' supposed to come in_? I thought to myself.

"Whatever it is, I'm ready for it." I said, probably agreeing with Daniel. I didn't know what they were talking about, but if it got me out of this seat then fine by me.

They both turned and looked at me with the same expression, but Daniel slowly turned to Kyle with a 'I told you so' kind of smile. He turned back around, facing the refrigerator and grabbed something that seemed to have gotten my attention. Something in the back of my throat began to tickle and a loud rumbling formed in the bottom of my stomach. Whatever Daniel was holding triggered something in my head which caused my whole body to shake uncontrollably. I don't want to admit it, but caused me to drool too. Daniel turned around with a cup full of dark, thick red liquid in his grasp.

Something inside of me, gave me the urge to break off the ropes that binded me to the chair. I started to pull the ropes, not caring if they were giving me rope burns, or slicing my arm. The tickle in the back of my throat grew, and the rumbling in my stomach became louder. So loud that I'm sure everyone could hear it.

Mike got up from his seat and walked by me, in which I bared my teeth and snapped at him. He reeked of something that smelt horrible. Like wet dog that hasn't been washed in months. I felt two strong hands push me back down into my seat by my shoulders.

"Get off me you dog." I hissed. I turned my head, trying to bite his hand that was rested on my shoulder. "I said--" I shrugged my shoulders and tried biting him more, "--I said get off." A loud growl formed in the bottom of my throat as Daniel walked closer with the cup. My body became calmer but my mind kept telling me to attack him.

"Tori," Daniel turned and gave the cup to Kyle who was right behind him, "Tori, listen to me." He knelt down like he did before, so he was eye level with me. "Tori are you listening?" He asked again, but this time, desperation seeped through his voice. I was shocked at how close Daniel was. He was so close that I could feel his calm, warm breath on me.

He slowly brought his hand up towards my face. "Daniel don't--" Kyle said, but was quickly interrupted when Daniel 'shooed' him away with his other hand. He continued to bring his arm up until he was holding the side of my face with his rough hands. His hazel eyes had a soft look to them that seemed to have calmed the animal inside of me.

"Tori, we are here for you, and were going to get through this." He motioned to Kyle to give him the cup, in which Kyle did. "Were going to take this slow, so breathe and please... don't bite my hand off." He laughed, but quickly frowned as he saw that I didn't have much of a personality at the moment.

He reached the cup up to my mouth and the animal inside of me formed the tickle in my throat and the urge to attack Daniel. But looking at Daniel's soft hazel eyes forced me to ignore, and push the animal away.

As the cup touched my lips, he tipped it forward so the thick liquid slid down into my mouth. The smell was unbearable and when I was able to taste it I almost choked from the taste. "Tori, you need to drink this. It might not taste good but we need for you to get used to it." It was Mike, who was still behind me holding onto my shoulders.

I began coughing he blood back into the cup, not wanting to drink any more. A hissing noise formed in the bottom of my throat when they wouldn't take the cup away. "Tori, drink." Kyle said with a forceful tone. I took big gulps for last little bit that was left, but quickly spit what was left inside of my mouth into the cup.

Daniel took the cup away, and he put his usual half smile on his face. "Are you okay?"

I closed my eyes, embarrassed from the way I acted. "I feel like I'm going to throw up, but I think I'm okay."I started to noticed the tickle in the back of my throat was disappearing, and I no longer had a rumbling stomach.

I opened my eyes as Mike released my shoulders. He sat in the seat Daniel sat in earlier, and began combing through my hair. "You did great." His voice was shaky; as if he was scared.

I swallowed the taste that was left in my mouth, which made my stomach even more upset. "Why do vampires say human blood tastes good. It tastes horrible." I asked, while still clearing the inside of my mouth. They all turned to look at each other, Kyle even began to chuckle. "What's so funny?" I asked.

Daniel of course was the one to speak for all of them. "That wasn't human blood. It was deer blood." He paused and wiped his forehead where little droplets of sweat formed. "You seriously think we would give you human blood?" I shrugged my shoulders as he continued. "If I started you off with human blood, you would never drink animal blood. Therefore, you would probably suck the blood from every human at school." Daniel laughed at the thought, but I didn't think it was funny.

I sighed. "I'm not going to school. It's too dangerous." I stated. Daniel walked over to the sink that was off to this side, next the refrigerator, and began cleaning the cup.

"That's for you to say and for me, Kyle, and our parents to decide." He walked back over to me; wiping his hands on his jeans. "If we train you right, you will be able to go to school as if you were still human." My body cringed at the thought that I'm not _human_ anymore.

_I didn't ask for this. I didn't want to become a bloodsucker._ I thought.

In the corner of my eyes I could see everyone's head fall to their chest. "We know you didn't ask for this, but it's kind of too late now. So we have to do the things that will make you normal as possible." Kyle lectured.

Tears started to form in the corner of my eyes. "How can I go to school if I can't go in the sun?" I asked, even though I knew there was a possibility of me being able to go into the sun. I was just finding any way to stay out of school, and having to deal with all that mess.

"Daniel I thought you said that because of her dad she would be able to go into the sun?" Mike questioned.

I flipped my head to where he was sitting, and then back to Daniel. "How did you know about that?"

Daniel closed his eyes and scrunched up his nose, "Yeah, about that. Kelly and Chris have known about you and your family for a long time. Especially about your dad." He pulled a chair behind him and sat down. "Your dad is known for being a hero with the werewolves, and a betrayer with the vampires. Let's just say, Kelly and Chris have known about you for a while." I gave him a confused but ticked off look, wondering why I didn't know about this before.

"Why did you keep all of this from me?" I growled.

Daniel sat up in his seat, probably feeling concerned that I might try and do something, which caused a low chuckle to form in the bottom of throat.

_Your afraid of me. _I thought. I wanted to mess with him, so I hissed at him, baring my fangs.

Daniel cleared his throat. "We didn't know when to tell you. Kelly and Chris were concerned on what you would think, and how you would react. So chill your ass."

That was the first time I have ever heard Daniel curse, which made me laugh.

"You know, you have gotten an attitude change since you have turned into a vampire." Kyle said while walking towards me with this finger pointing at me.

"Well maybe you should turn into a vampire so your attitude would change and you wouldn't be such an ass as you are now."

His finger fell to his side and he took a deep breath before turning around, back to his seat. He fell into his seat with a thump, and crossed his arms. "I just say we leave her here, _forever_." The corners of his mouth turned into a smile.

Daniel shook his head, "As much as I would like to--" He shot an evil look at me as he continued. "--we need to see if she has the abilities her father had, and the abilities she won't have." He got up from his seat and began walking in my direction, looking more irritated than ever. "Mike-" He didn't finish but Mike obviously knew what he wanted. He got up from his seat and stood behind me, and did what he did before. He laid his hands on my shoulders, hold me into the chair.

"What are you doing?" I tried wiggling out of his grip, but no luck.

"Chill out will you? Were letting you out, but we just need to make sure that you won't do anything stupid."

"What like killing Kyle?...no... killing Kyle wouldn't be a stupid thing to do." Mike squeezed my shoulders, causing pains to shoot through my arms and body. "Okay... Okay, I'm chilled."

Daniel got finished untying my arms, and started untying the ropes that binded my legs. I reached up towards the ceiling; stretching my stiff, sore muscles, and rubbed the places where the ropes burned my arm when I was trying to get out of them.

When Daniel was done untying my legs, he slowly backed away and threw the ropes aside. He looked behind me and nodded his head up and down, telling Mike that I could be free. I got up slowly; trying to ignore the pain shooting through my legs. When I was finally out of the seat, I started doing some stretches, also jogging in place which caused Caleb to laugh. I looked over to him; and forgot that he was even in the room.

"So what's next?" I asked, with eagerness seeping in my voice.

Daniel gave me a half smile and looked at his watch. "It's about 8:36 am. The sun is up, so we can see if you can go in the sun or not." I began walking in the direction of the basement door, but paused.

"So there's a chance of me not being able to go into the sun?"

Kyle was stuffing his face with a peanut butter sandwich again, "Pretty much. So you'll just burn to ashes." He said with no hesitation, or concern.

I ignored him and began walking up the stairs again, and taking steps one at a time. When I grabbed the door handle, Daniel called out. "Wait, don't open it." He softly pushed Caleb and Kyle to the side and quickly, but softly pushed me aside. "There are about 8 other guys out there." My dull expression turned into a confused one, so he sighed and began to clarify. "They are all werewolves."

I understood. "Oh, I see." He nodded before opening up the door. The bright light blasted through the open door causing me to blink a couple of times before someone started to push me through it. As my eyes finally adjusted, I saw that I was in a kitchen, a very white kitchen, luckily nobody was in it. I was actually praying that I wouldn't see any werewolves, at least not right now.

We walked into the hallway that had several doors that were closed. It also led us to the living room full of werewolves. I felt a hand press against my lower back leading me to the front door. "Just go straight to the door, and don't look at them." Daniel whispered in my ear. My head fell to my chest, so I was looking towards the floor.

I could hear them whispering to themselves. "Is—is that a vampire?" one said. "That's Daniel and Kyle's adopted sister." another one said. "What the hell--?" the first guy growled.

Daniel's hand pressed harder against my back, causing me to walk faster in the direction of the front door. "Don't worry about them. I'll talk to them later." He whispered in my ear as Mike reached for the door, but hesitated, and turned towards us. "Are you ready?" I sighed but quickly nodded.

He opened the door slowly. My body started to tremble, so Daniel held me up by my elbows. The sun reached my shoes and so I closed my eyes and feared the worst.

_Daniel, thanks for being so nice to me, and please thank Kelly and Chris for adopting me, and Kyle I'm sorry for being so mean to you._ I thought quickly.

"Oh shut up, and open your eyes." Kyle ordered. I didn't open my eyes right away. No, I was too afraid. But I started to feel warm. As if someone had just put me in an oven.

_I'm still here._

I opened my eyes and saw the bright sun shining on the front porch. I looked down and noticed the warmth I was feeling was the sun shining on me. I looked up at Daniel and a smile appeared on his face.

"I'm happy your okay, and I'm happy your home." He bent down and wrapped me into a bear hug, and kissed me on the top of my head.

_I'm happy too. _I happily thought.

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**Well, I hope you liked it more than I did. It was hard to write... yeah I know... odd. But thanks for reading, now review!**

**Haha. Thanks.**

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	18. Babysitter

**Here's an update. I hope you like this chapter. I liked writing it. :D**

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_I'm still here._

I opened my eyes and saw the bright sun shining on the front porch. I looked down and noticed the warmth I was feeling was the sun shining on me. I looked up at Daniel and a smile appeared on his face.

"I'm happy your okay, and I'm happy your home." He bent down and wrapped me into a bear hug, and kissed me on the top of my head.

_I'm happy too. _I happily thought.

Mike closed the door and turned with a smile. You could tell he was glad that it was all over with and I wasn't a pile of ashes, I think everybody was glad. As Daniel released me from my hug I glanced up to notice Collin and a new guy, with an expression that told me he was angry; standing all around me and Daniel.

"What is a _vampire_ doing here?" The new guy asked, with hatred seeping through his voice. The animal inside of me seemed to have escaped again but it didn't form the tickle in the back of my throat like it usually did. It was more of burning, like heart burn.

"Johnathan, I will explain later when I am able to. You are just going to have to chill out." I could tell Daniel was covering up his anger and trying to sound caring, and nice. "Victoria is going to be living here until we can get her trained and ready to go back and live with me and Kyle." Daniel added. He placed his hand on my back and led me in the direction of the basement again. As I was walking away, voices were echoing inside my head, causing confusion. _**I can't beliv-... -Deal with i-...this is going to be fun.**_

I ignored them. I was more concerned about something else."Why are we going into the basement?" I continued to walk but I hesitated at every step. Daniel was pushing me along, acting as if he was eager about something. "What are we doing?" He insisted on pushing me towards the door without saying anything, so I tried stopping, but he didn't stop.

"We are going to see if you have vampire strength. We have to see what you have or don't have, and since you can walk in the sun you are more than likely not going to have at least one thing a vampire has." My muscles went weak at the thought of what they were going to do to try and find out if I have vampire strength.

When we opened the door, we quickly walked down the stairs, even though I was first I could tell all the guys in the house were following right behind me. They all sounded like a herd of cattle coming down the stairs. As I reached the middle of the room, Daniel released his hand from my back and I turned around to notice a circle of guys all around me and Daniel. All of them had the same child-like excitement, expressed on their faces.

"Okay, all I'm going to test you on right now is strength." He stretched his arms towards me, "Give me your wrists." I hesitated, not sure if what he was doing was right, but irritation soon grew upon his face, so I gave in and held out my arms. He then grabbed my wrists, and I then remembered the rope burns that I had on my wrists.

"They-they don't hurt." I pulled my arms but he didn't let go. "My rope burns," He looked at me; confused. "My rope burns, they don't hurt like before." He let go of my wrists and I looked at them closely. The rope burns that used to be noticeable, were now small, light scabs. "I can heal." I whispered. Excitement pulsed through my veins as I thought of the possibilities of escaping death.

"Well now we know you have that ability." He reached his arms toward me again. Knowing what to do, I brought my arms towards his and he grabbed a hold of my wrists. "Now, your going to try to get out of my grasp." I thought of plan that could get out of his grasp but my plan was soon interrupted, "And no, you cannot kick me in my forbidden zone, or kick me at all." My plans were crushed.

_Dang it. Now see, that would be fun._ I thought.

A chuckle erupted from the group, but Daniel interrupted their laughter, "Okay, now try to get out of my grasp." I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, which I then began to try and pull my arms free.

A burn started to form on my wrists from Daniel gripping hard and rubbing against them. I pulled and pulled and nothing seemed to happen. He didn't move from where he was standing and he sighed. "Are you sure your using _all_ of your strength?" I let my muscles relax and I gave him a 'do you think I'm that stupid' kind of look. "Okay... try again. But this time stop and take a deep breath and really think about releasing that inner strength." Daniel's voice was smooth and calm, but I could tell he was unsure about this whole situation.

I closed my eyes and took and a deep breath and released it as a loud sigh. I kept my eyes closed and began to remember the night I pissed Aidan off, which was when I was extremely close to death. I was thinking that would piss me off and that my 'inner strength' would erupt. I felt my throat rumble and a loud growl slipped past my lips, and the heart burn started to return. So I quickly opened my eyes and pulled as hard as I could from Daniels grip. My body leaned backwards and I pushed my feet on the ground trying to drag Daniel from his position, but nothing happened.

"Damn it!" I screamed. Daniel released my arms and I let my arms fall to my sides. My body wanted to collapse from the stress I was putting on my muscles and bones.

"Well I'm sorry to say but, you don't have vampire strength." Daniel wiped his forehead that trickled beads of sweat with his sleeve. He turned to talk to his 'buddies' in a low murmur, which I couldn't hear. But voices started to form in the back of my head like earlier, but it was all a jumbled mess. _**This is pointless--, we shouldn't be worrying about streng--, we should just kill her.**_

"Hey, whoever said-- or thought that I should be killed, better shut up because I'll kill you myself." I glared at the confused faces turned in my direction.

"What are you talking about?" Daniel turned around so his whole body was facing me.

I put my hands on my hips and tried to look annoyed. "I think I can read minds because somebody's thought popped in my head." Daniel shook his head, "And?" He asked with irritation seeping through his voice. He looked more annoyed than ever. "Ugh, It's not a big deal." I decided to say. I didn't want to tick him off any more, which he seemed fine with my answer. "Okay, well since you couldn't find your inner strength' we are going to try something different." He walked towards me with his arms pulled up in my direction. I automatically picked up my arms, already knowing what he wanted me to do. He grabbed my wrists and quickly said, "Now."

One of the guys I didn't know ran up to me and quickly punched me in my side. "Ow, what in the hell are you doing?" Then I felt another hard rock punching me in my other side, which I flipped my head around and saw that it was Collin. "Ooo, when I get free Collin, I'm going to rip you to shreds." I threatened, even though I knew they weren't punched me full force. I saw Kyle walking up from behind Daniel and I tried pulling my arms free. Kyle had an expression that I couldn't even explain. Let's just say happiness is an understatement. I tugged even harder on my arms, enough to dis-locate my elbow, but nothing happened. "Daniel, let go." I begged. As he shook his head 'no' the heartburn formed in the middle of my chest, and a growl escaped my lips.

Kyle was still coming closer, and I knew that begging wouldn't save me, and I obviously didn't have vampire strength so there was only one thing left to do. I picked up my leg when he was close enough and kicked him where it would really hurt. Kyle went down like a building being bulldozed, and with a loud thump against the concrete basement floor. Daniel released my wrists and went down to comfort Kyle.

"Are you okay? Wow, she kicked you hard." I could tell Daniel was hiding a smile, and was containing his laughter.

"You think?" Kyle managed to whisper in between breaths. "I'm going to kill her." Daniel ran over to the sink and wet a paper towel, in which he placed in on Kyle's head. "Can you move?" He asked. I could hear Kyle's quick breaths and as he said, "No, I can't. I really can't move." Daniel looked up to me and glared at me.

His stern voice erupted in the back of my head. _**Collin take Tori upstairs, I will deal with her later.**_ I looked over to Collin, which he was rolling his eyes and motioning with his arms telling me to follow him. I quickly jumped over Kyle's big body and ran to Collin's side.

"I didn't mean to do that you know." He was already opening up the door when I was only halfway up.

"Yeah I know you didn't mean to. You had no choice. It was either getting hit or protecting yourself." I walked into the kitchen and he closed the door behind me. He lead me into the living room where Brent, and a guy I didn't know sat. I walked over and sat on the couch next to Collin, interrupting Brent's conversation.

"So how did it go?" Brent asked while putting his book on the coffee table. Collin looked at me with a half smile and I slid lower in the couch.

"Well she doesn't have vampire strength, and Kyle's on the floor in pain. So I think it went pretty well." I laughed at the expression Brent formed with his freckled face. "I don't even wanna know." He muttered.

"I'm probably going to be grounded." I sighed, wishing that all of this could go away. Wishing that I could be back at home, watching t.v, or laying in the front yard next to Kelly's garden, watching the white clouds move against the baby blue sky.

"Yeah you probably will be." He looked up towards the ceiling, as if he was thinking. "You know, we haven't tried your speed yet." I quickly looked up to him, and fear swept through my veins. I got up from the couch and began walking away. "I'm not doing anything else. At least not today." I said quickly. I could hear the couch squeak, which told me Collin was now standing.

"Tori, turn around." I turned to see Collin holding a white vase with gold outline of flowers and vines all around it. It definitely looked expensive. "What are you doing with that?" He brought it back behind his shoulders and yelled, "Catch."

The vase went flying through an open door that led to the kitchen, and Collin didn't move. I ran into the hallway and all of a sudden I was in the kitchen with the vase flying straight for me, in which I caught it. "How did I-- I have vampire's speed." I jumped up and down as Collin walked in through the door.

"Why was my mother's vase flying through the air?" It was Mike. I quickly stopped jumping up and down and turned towards the basement door where Mike and Daniel were standing a foot away from me. I pointed my finger towards Collin, and he brought up his hands as if he just got caught stealing by the police. "I was just seeing if she had vampire speed."

Mike crossed his arms and began tapping his foot. "And what if she didn't have vampire speed?" He waited no more than a second before answering his own question. "My mother's vase would have broke." I looked over at Collin and he shrugged his shoulders. "Sorry Mike. I guess I just assumed that since she didn't have strength that she would have the speed." Mike pointed to the hallway and sternly said, "Go to your room."

I paused in place, and stopped my breathing. "Why are you talking to him like he's a little kid?" I thought that was pretty pathetic. If I was Collin I would have at least argued back. "Collin _is_ a kid. He's a year younger than you." I gave Mike a shocked side ways glance.

"You mean to tell me that Collin the 6'3, 6'4 guy is actually sixteen?" I stated slowly. Mike and Daniel shook their heads in agreement.

"Yeah, Collin Is one of the three people that will be watching over you when you go to school." Daniel said.I shuddered at the thought of school. "Wha-What like a babysitter?" I asked. Daniel laughed, "If you want to think of him that way, then okay." I shook my head 'no'.

"Collin and the other two people are just there so nothing happens to you or to anyone else." Daniel walked over to the refrigerator and got out a vitamin water. He took a few gulps and walked into the living room, with Mike right behind him and before entering the living room he grabbed his mothers vase and gave me an irritated look.

The garage door started to open and I could hear Kyle's annoying voice talking about the different ways he could kill me. I quickly jumped and ran towards the hallway and opened a random door. I closed it quickly and leaned against the door with my eyes closed. Even with the door closed I heard Kyle yelling, "Victoria, I saw you. You are going to have to face me sometime." I cringed at his voice, but sighed with relief that I got away in time.

"Uh, Hello." I opened my eyes and saw the calm faced Collin sitting on his queen sized bed. I glanced around the blue walled room and saw the name Collin above his bed.

"Oh, I'm sorry-- I thoug-- I didn't know." I swiftly turned on my heels and grabbed the door knob; ready to bolt out the door.

"Wait, you don't have to leave.--" I slowly released my grip of the door knob and turned towards him slowly. "--I mean, I'm sure you don't want to have to deal with Kyle. Do you?" I shook my head 'no', and focused on the hardwood floor of his bed room; trying not to meet his gaze.

"Come sit." I looked up and Collin was patting the place next to him on the bed. He flashed a friendly white smile and patted the seat again. As I walked over and sat down next to him on his big fluffy bed, nervousness seemed to have swept through me faster than a speeding bullet, making this situation a little awkward.

"So..." He said, I looked up to meet his hazel eyes and I chuckled slightly. "So..." I echoed. I looked towards the ground again, feeling stupid that I stayed. I could feel his eyes burning into the side of me and the silence was becoming unbearable, all I was wishing right now was that I could just run out of here and hide. I hated awkward situations, I always try to avoid them when I can.

"I heard that you thought I was older." I was startled at the sound of his voice, I was getting used to the silence.

"Yeah, I thought you were their age." He laughed, but quickly stopped after seeing my expression.

"Sorry I didn't mean to laugh." He cleared his throat and turned his gaze from me to the floor; looking a little awkward himself.

"Daniel told me that your going to school with me?" I tried making conversation, and I think I was on to something.

"Yeah, me, Clarice, and Jack." He stated dully. I started to bite the inside of my lip, becoming nervous once again. I looked around the room and noticed pictures of him and Mike at the beach, or with other friends, and also one that looked like his family.

"Is Mike your brother?" I asked without thinking. He looked up towards the wall of pictures and looked at me with intense eyes.

"Uh, I guess you could say that. He took me in when I was ten. My mother and father passed away in a car crash when I was nine and I became a werewolf when I was ten. Mike finally let me join his group a couple of days ago. I waited for so long to join, I love helping others." Collin smiled but I could tell that he was distracted by something else.

"Well, I should be going. I'm sure Kyle has cooled down by now." I smiled, "Thanks for letting me hide in here." I said before getting up and heading towards the door. I stopped as I grabbed the doorknob. "Hey--" I slowly turned in his direction. "--Sorry about your parents." He smiled showing his glistening white teeth. "Thanks, same with you." He got up and walked to the window, and stood there standing.

_How did he know--? Jeez, everybody knows everything about me._ I thought. I heard a low chuckle coming from Collin as I turned and walked out the door, and into the hallway.

"Ooo, Collin and Tori sittin in a tree. K-I-S-S--" I lightly punched Caleb in the stomach, interrupting his childish game. "Shut up. We were just talking." I stated with irritation in my voice. I walked out of the hallway and entered the living room where they were all watching The Price is Right. I walked to the farthest corner away from Kyle, making sure I avoided him.

"Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich!" Kyle yelled out. "Ten points for me." I looked at the T.V. Screen and I could see some of the letters forming what Kyle said on the letter board.

"Yeah you would defiantly know that one. You eat a p.b. and j sandwich about twenty times a day." Daniel replied before cracking up. I felt a warm hand pressed against my shoulder and I looked to see Collin standing a foot away from me.

"You left this." He said with a hushed tone. I looked down and saw the ruby red ring Aidan gave me the day I was claimed, in which I quickly grabbed it and slipped in on my ring finger.

"I know what that is." One of his eye brows went up, telling me that I was busted.

"Yeah well I can't lose it." I looked back towards the ring and twisted it, which was becoming a habit of mine. I glanced back up to Collin and he was looking at me with his head cocked to the side.

"It's his scent isn't it?" I nodded. "Yeah, I could smell it. It's pretty strong." His nose crinkled.

I lifted my hand to my nose; smelling the ring. Small scent of Aidan formed in the back of my nose and became stronger. The scent began putting bad memories of when he was evil, in my head.

I swiftly slid the ring off and held it in my closed fist. "Please take it."I muttered. I brought my head up to meet his confused gaze, and stared into his hazel eyes. "Please." I pleaded again. He held out his hand and I dropped it in the middle of his palm as I said, "I don't want anything that will remind me of _him_." A tear started to form in the corner of my eye, but I didn't want Collin or anyone else in the room to see me cry, so I dropped my head into my chest.

Collin wrapped his warm arms around me, causing my head to lay on his hard chest. I could feel his chest rise and fall as he breathed, and the smell of his breath was sweet, like, roses and honey. But my mind became distracted and all I could think about was, is a vampire allowed to fall in love with a werewolf?

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**Hope you liked it.**

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	19. The Letter

**Okay, well I finally updated. This chapter was really hard to write, and it's the most simplest chapter I could have ever written and I had the hardest time. But the next chapter will be easier to write and it won't take as long. I promise! **

**At the end of the chapter I have added Character Descriptions so if any of you readers forgot what the characters look like then it will help you. If it doesn't help answer a question that you have about a specific character or even the story then just private message me. **

**Well hope you enjoy the chapter. I will update sooner this time.**

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My body trembled with excitement, and butterflies filled my stomach. _I'm finally going home._ I thought. I kept fidgeting with the seat belt buckle, wanting so bad to be there already. "Are we almost there?" I asked for the hundredth time. I saw Daniel roll his eyes in the rear-view mirror before he sighed and said, "Yes, we are finally here."

The car slowed and turned down the familiar driveway leading us to the house I knew and loved. I peaked out the tinted window and saw Kelly in Chris' arms smiling and giggling at whatever Chris might have said. As the car stopped I quickly unbuckled my seat belt and jumped out of the car. In which I paused and smelled the familiar woods smell that seemed to have calmed the butterflies in my stomach.

"Victoria!" Kelly was walking towards me with her arms spread wide, welcoming me into a hug, which I happily accepted. "I have missed you so much." I met Chris' gaze and he gave me his warm gentle smile, and a small wave. "I know I have missed all of you guys." I managed to say, holding back the happy tears. Kelly released me from her hug, and reached up and started to comb through my hair. "You look absolutely beautiful." She turned around towards Chris, "She has changed so much. Don't you think so Chris?" Chris smiled and shook his head in agreement.

The familiar tickle began to form in the back of my throat, and my stomach began to rumble. I froze in place. _No, not right now. Please no._ I thought. I closed my eyes and focused on trying to take the tickle away before something terrible happens.

I looked behind me and saw Kyle walking towards the garage with his stuff in his hands, and Daniel in the trunk retrieving his baggage. I was hoping that they already knew what was happening and was ready to take me into the house, but they were busy doing their own thing.

A warm hand touched my shoulder, causing me to jump. "Tori, are you okay?" Kelly's sweet voice soon turned into concern. I swiftly turned towards her with a smile on my face, trying to hide the fact that I was really thirsty. "Umm, Yeah I'm great." I spun back around to face Daniel's back, as he walked toward the garage.

_Great. Right when I need you, you leave me._

"So Tori, I hear your wanting to go to school?" Chris said behind me, interrupting my thoughts. I didn't bother to turn around, I was too afraid. _They smell so good._ I thought. A vision formed in my head of me pouncing on Kelly and Chris and draining their blood, which seemed to have satisfied the tickle in the back of my throat. I opened my eyes and I felt a tingling sensation flow through my body. I was wanting so bad to bite them.

I slowly turned around and faced Kelly, who was no farther than a couple feet away. "Yeah. School. Fun." I said through clenched teeth. Kelly's happy expression turned into a frightened one, causing her to take a step back. As I took a step closer, a firm hand was pressed on my shoulder.

_Daniel. You reek of wet dog. _I knew he was reading my mind.

"Mom, Dad, I think Tori should come inside. She has had a long hectic week." Chris wrapped the startled Kelly in his arms as he shook is head in agreement. "Yeah, I think that would be best."

Daniel imitated Chris and wrapped his arm around my shoulder, leading me towards the house. "Are you hungry?" He whispered in my ear. A low growl formed in the bottom of my throat. "Okay, that's a yes." He said with understanding.

We walked through the front door and turned into the kitchen, where he seated me in a chair. He walked towards the refrigerator and opened it, revealing bottles of reddish almost black liquid.

"Is that--" I started saying, but Daniel turned towards me and smiled. "Yeah, me and Kyle got a whole bunch of it before you came home. We wanted to be prepared." He stated proudly. He grabbed one of the bottles, closed the door and handed me it before he sat down across the table. "Now drink." He suggested.

I hesitated, but began opening the bottle, which caused the tickle in the back of my throat to form again. I slowly brought the bottle to my lips, and began taking in small sips. It was satisfying to my taste buds, but my mind was telling me different.

_This is terrible. Humans don't drink this. Nobody should have to... I'm a monster. _I thought.

Daniel who was looking towards the floor flashed his glance in my direction. "Tori, you need to accept who you are. Your a vampire now. It might take you a while to get used to things, but you can't get used to things if you don't accept it." I took my last big gulp, which caused this weight to be lifted off of my shoulders, but I was still disgusted with myself.

"How would you know how I feel?" I asked. Daniel's head fell into his chest. "I may not know what it's like to drink blood, or do whatever vampires do. But I'm still different, just like you." I stared into his dark brown eyes, which caused me to really see the pain in his eyes. It caused me to see everything he had to go through in his life time. "I'm sorry I snapped." I muttered under my breath. This whole situation seemed to have taken an awkward turn, but luckily for me it was soon interrupted.

"Hey Daniel, Mike called. There is a situation in Cypress woods. We need everybody." I turned to see Kyle leaning on the wall with his arms folded, waiting for Daniel to respond. Daniel got up from his seat and I followed right behind him.

"Can I go?" I asked, with eagerness. Daniel stopped in his tracks and turned on his heels. "Tori, you are a new vampire. Do you seriously think we would take you?" I gave him a blank stare. I knew I could take on anybody. Even though I might not have 'super strength', I am quick. "Uhh, yeah." I replied.

"No." He quickly said before following Kyle out the door. "Please don't do anything stupid while were gone." Daniel closed the door behind him.

_Now what am I supposed to do? _I thought to myself.

I turned and began walking up the stairs, heading to my room that hasn't been touched since I have been gone. I walked down the long hallway, peaking in each room to make sure no one was hiding. When I reached the door to my room, I hesitated. Not sure why, but something in my gut told me something wasn't right. I opened my door and walked in my familiar green room. Everything was normal, and put in place. I slipped off my shoes on the way to my bed, and fell onto it. I grabbed my pillow and placed it over my head, shielding the light coming through my green curtains. As I squeezed my pillow, I heard a crumpling sound coming from the inside.

I took the pillow off and reached into the pillow case, grabbing something paper-like. As I pulled it out, I noticed it was an envelope with my name written in cursive on the front, which I quickly flipped it around and pulled off the gold seal holding the flap together, and pulled out the paper. I opened the folded paper and neatly written in cursive it said:

_Dear Victoria,_

_I am writing this letter to inform you that I was here earlier. I can't write much, for Aidan would be suspicious on why I was here for so long. Aidan sent me to check to see if your brothers brought you back here, and if they did he wanted me to bring you back with me. So I am going back to him and telling him that you and your family have moved. Going back to Aidan without you will be hard, he definitely will not be happy. Please do not wonder why I am doing this. Victoria you may not want to hear this, but he misses you terribly and he is determined to get you back no matter what it takes, even if it takes to kill your whole family to get you back. I did not wish to be the one to write this to you, but I had to. _

_Aidan and I will be going to Italy with or without you, to finish some "un-finished business", but we will head back here to find you. So that will give you and your family enough time to move far away. Please do not live life thinking you are free from Aidan. He will find you eventually, I am sorry you have been stuck in this situation, but I do not believe someone who has a great life now, such as yourself, should live such a horrible life, such as with Aidan. _

_Please listen to the letter, and once again, I am truly sorry._

_Sincerely,_

_Alaric _

I folded the letter and sat it next to me on the bed. I was in shock, and I didn't know what to think of it. "I have to hide this." I grabbed the letter and quickly stuffed it back in the envelope, which I then placed it under my mattress. "Nobody can see this." I muttered to myself.

I got up from my bed and walked over to my covered 'window-doors' and pushed the curtains aside. The bright sun blasted through the window, causing me to hide behind my arm. With my other hand I opened up the door, and stepped out onto the balcony. I walked to the edge and leaned over to look on the porch to see if anyone was there. Then I took a peek at the woods to make sure no one was in sight.

_Tori, there is no one out there. _I turned and walked back inside my room, _Your just paranoid. _I added. That's when I smelled it, something nasty. I crinkled my nose and tried fanning the smell away, but it just seemed to have made it worse.

_I smells like... like... a very dirty wet dog. _The smell was familiar to me, but I just couldn't figure it out. But when it did, it hit me like a ton of bricks.

_Collin._

I started to follow the smell, which lead me into the hallway and down the stairs. I paused next to the front door where the smell was stronger, but when I peaked out the side window there was no one. I sniffed again and followed the smell to the back sliding glass door, the smell was intense here. I pulled back the curtains, and jumped in shock.

"Oh my god. Collin what are you doing here?" I said through the glass. He looked like a mess. His clothes were dirty and brown, and he was drenched with either water or sweat.

"I was uh, visiting." He said before laughing. I started to open the door but one thought caused me to stop. "Wait a minute-- Daniel sent you here to check on me!" I reached for the cord that pulls the blinds open and close but he slammed his hand on the glass.

"No wait-- he didn't. I heard that you were home alone, and I was too so I thought we could enjoy each others company." He said quickly, so I wouldn't close the blinds on him. I hesitated and thought about it, but unlocked and opened the door. "You better be right. I don't need to be checked on." I said with a low growl. I turned and walked towards the kitchen with him following right on my heels. "So why aren't you with the guys?" I said while getting a water bottle out of the fridge, and handing it to him.

He sighed. "Mike said that I need to train for another two weeks before I can go out with them." He took a sip of his water before continuing, "I know I could drain blood from anything and anybody as fast as they can--" He paused after seeing my expression. "Sorry I didn't mean to mention anything like that."

I shook my head and began fidgeting with a loose string that was hanging from my shirt. I could feel his eyes staring at me, so I lifted my head and met his hazel gaze, which formed a smile on his face.

"Do you have any other shirt that I could put on?" I was startled by his question, but quickly walked around him and headed to the laundry room. "Yeah, you will probably be able to fit into one of Daniel's shirts." I handed him a warm shirt from the running dryer, in which he accepted with a smile. "Thank you." He muttered before taking off his wet shirt. He revealed a six pack, and nicely defined muscles which caused me to turn away. _Holy cow._

I turned back around when I knew he was done. He smiled revealing his pearly white teeth, "Do you have a bag for this?" I rushed over to the shelf above the washer and grabbed a plastic garbage bag, and handed it to him.

"So, what happened?" I asked while pointing to his wet shirt. He laughed, "Your not going to laugh right?" I shook my head 'yes'. "Well when I was heading over here, I changed into wolf form and I brought extra clothes for when I change back, and while I was running they fell out of my mouth and landed in a puddle. Then--" He wiped some of the access water from his hair onto me, "--I changed back and tripped and fell into a bigger puddle, that's why I'm really wet."

I pinned my lips together; trying not to laugh, but it came out in one loud laugh which caused me to laugh even harder. "Hey-- you told me you wouldn't laugh." He said in between smiles, which just caused me to laugh even harder. "I am so sorry. I'm just picturing your face as your-- tripping ." My stomach started to hurt so I grabbed my sides, hoping that maybe will help it.

As my laugh slowed and my stomach felt better, I stood back up, but just seeing his expression and him with his crossed arms made me laugh and made me grab my stomach again.

A low growl started to come from him. "That's it." All of a sudden I was being picked up and thrown over his shoulder. "Collin what are you doing?" I managed to say in between laughs.

"Your--" He began pretending like he was actually crying. "--your making fun of me." We walked into the family room and he threw me down on the couch. "Your a bully." He stated while getting down on the floor to sit next to me.

"You know... you picking me up was unnecessary. I was tempted to bite you." I snapped my jaws together; biting the air. He did his usual smile but quickly stuck his tongue out, which I did the same.

"So what do you want to watch?" Collin had the remote and turned the television on. But my mind seemed to have wondered back to the letter. I really didn't want to move. I was finally fitting in this place, and Daniel and Kyle have their pack, and their 'saving lives' thing here, so I wasn't sure if I should tell them. But I knew if I didn't tell them about the letter, I would be jeopardizing their lives.

"Helloooo--" Collin's hand was being waved in my face. "Are you okay?" He asked. I shook my head 'yes' and gazed back into Collins bright hazel eyes with a smile on my face. Something started to form in the bottom of my stomach and it wasn't butterflies like I was nervous, but something lighter, and softer... it's like my mind was telling me that I was wanting Collin to be more than just a friend.

"What?" He smiled, once again revealing his perfect pearly white teeth. "Do I have something on my face?" He reached up and wiped down his whole face. "Or is something in my teeth?" He brushed his teeth with his finger, which caused me to laugh.

_Maybe I could wait a couple weeks...maybe months before I tell them...I think I need to get to know Collin a little more._

**Characters:**

_Werewolves:_

_**Daniel- 6'4 "Leader of the Pack"**_

Hair: Dark brown spiky hair

Eyes: Light brown eyes

Wolf form: Dark brown fur, Purple eyes

**Kyle- 6'4 "_The know-it-all one"_**

Hair: Surfer like hair, that flips out at the end, Blond

Eyes: Light Brown eyes

Wolf form: Dirty blond fur, Purple eyes

_Kyle and Caleb are real brothers. Caleb didn't want to be adopted by Kelly or Chris, like Kyle was._

**Caleb- 6'4 "_The friendly one"_**

Hair: Blond spiky hair

Eyes: Hazel eyes

Other: Scar going from his jaw down to the middle of his neck

Wolf form: Blond fur, Purple eyes

**Mike- 6'4 "_The tough one"_**

Hair: Black side-swiped hair

Eyes: Dark brown eyes

Wolf Form: Black fur, Purple eyes

**Brent- 6'4 _"The smart one"_**

Hair: Red hair

Eyes: Green eyes

Other: Freckles on face

Wolf form: Red, blondish fur, Purple eyes

**Collin- 6'4**

**Age: 16, almost 17**

Hair: Dirty Blond spiky hair

Eyes:Hazel eyes

Other: Tan, muscular

Wolf form: Dirty blond fur

_**Mikes adopted brother/son**_

**Vampires:**

**Aidan**- Meaning: Fire

Hair: Black side-swipe hair

Eyes: More ruby red, then black

**Alaric-** Meaning: Noble ruler

Hair: Long white hair

Eyes: Black, w/ a hint of red

**I put the meaning of their names in there because I thought it fit their personality perfectly. **

**Other:**

**When Victoria turns:**

Hair: Pretty long length brown wavy hair

Eyes: Black w/ a hint of pink

**Kelly-** 30 yrs old

Hair: Long straight blond hair

Eyes: Icy Blue

Other: Tan

**Chris-** about 30

Hair: Dark brown spiky hair

Eyes: Hazel

Other: Tan

**Abigail-**

Hair: Long blond hair

Eyes: Light brown eyes

**Andrew- **

Hair: Short spiky blond hair

Eyes: Icy blue eyes

**Faith-**

Hair: Long down to the middle of her back dark brown hair

Eyes: Bright green eyes

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**Well I hope you enjoyed reading the chapter, and enjoyed the Character Descriptions. **

**I'm working on the next chapter now, so I'll be updating sooner.**

**Don't forget to review! **

**:D**

**Thank yew.**


	20. Fireflies

**Yes, this is an update. Yeah I know... a shocker. I told you last chapter that I was going to update sooner. So I kept that promise. This chapter was really fun to write, and I think everybody will enjoy it. I enjoyed writing it..._ obviously... I am updating at 2:00 am. _I just finished it. So get excited.**

**:D**

* * *

We were all sitting around the table together, for the first time in a long time. We were all eating a nice cooked ham that Kelly put together. Oh, and when I say 'were all' I mean the whole Blaine family and Mike, Caleb, Brent, even Collin. After the guys got back from their 'duty' over in Cypress woods, Kelly invited them over for a 'welcome home' dinner for me. I looked down at the nicely made dinner consisting of sliced of ham, green beans and sweet potatoes, but none of it looked good.

"Is something wrong dear?" Kelly's sweet voice rang over the loud deep voices coming from the smelly dogs, if you know who I mean. I picked my head up from my plate and smiled in Kelly's direction.

"No, it looks great. I'm just not really hungry." I said, trying to sound like I was telling the truth. I couldn't tell Kelly that I rather had a drink full of red, thick liquid, that she contained inside of her. I was holding back the urge to take a bite out of her, well out of anybody. I drank a bottle a couple hours before dinner, so I'm due for another one after everyone eats.

She brought her hand to her mouth, looking shocked. "Oh honey, I forgot." She got up from her seat and grabbed my plate. "I'm sure one of these hound dogs will eat your plate." A mutter erupted from the group.

"So who's excited about school tomorrow?" Kyle said, with a fake smile on his face. "I'm glad I don't have to deal with that crap any more. Going back to school after a long summer was the worst!" My heart dropped and my body seemed to have shrunk lower into the chair. I was definitely not excited about school tomorrow.

"Could you not mention anything about school. I would like to enjoy my last 'summer meal' thank you." said Collin sitting next to me. I looked over and he smiled, after shrugging his shoulders.

"Thank you Mrs. Blaine. That was delicious." Mike got up from his chair and grabbed his plate to bring in the kitchen.

"Yeah thanks mom. It was really good." Daniel followed Mike and everyone else into the kitchen where they brought their clean, empty plates. I soon got up, picking up a tray and a few glasses to bring into the kitchen.

"Excuse me." I muttered, trying to force my way into the kitchen, but nobody moved. "Excuse me big boy." I yelled, pushing Mike out of the way with my shoulder, and soon everyone else. I placed the tray and glasses into the sink and opened the refrigerator to get my other bottle.

"Your thirsty already?" Daniel asked. I turned towards the small little group that formed in the kitchen, while opening my bottle. "Yes." I stated, dully. I brought the bottle to my lips, feeling my stomach tighten into a knot, and my mind telling me to stop, but the tickle in the back of my throat caused me to continue. I took big gulps, which seemed to help get it down faster. As I finished the last gulp and brought the bottle away from my mouth, it revealed four wide-eyed guys.

"What?" I asked, annoyed. Mike was the one to speak-up. "Dang girl. You chugged that thing quick!" A laugh erupted and echoed through the small kitchen as I threw away my bottle. I broke through the hysterical group and walked up the stairs to my room, feeling tired and annoyed.

I opened the door to my room and switched the light on. I dragged my feet to my bed and plopped down, kicking my shoes off on the way. I looked at the clock and it read: 8:45 pm. Waking up tomorrow at 5:30 was going to be hell. Heck, going to school tomorrow was going to be hell.

I laid there staring at the ceiling, thinking about how school will be tomorrow. New school, new people. It sucks.

I was about to turn off the light, not caring about taking off the shorts or tanktop I was wearing, until a knock came at the door. I slowly got up, and once again dragged my feet to the door. I opened it, revealing no one. "Hello?" I said, only loud enough to hear down the hallway, but there was no response. I closed the door and began walking to my bed until the knocking happened again, but this time with a voice.

"Victoria, open up." I hesitated, but finally figured out that the knocking was coming from my 'window doors'. "It's me, Collin." he added. I paused in my tracks. _Wait, Collin?_ I ran to my dresser mirror and quickly fixed my hair and fixed my green tank top that seemed to have scrunched up from when I was laying on my bed.

I walked in a fast pace to the door and pushed the curtains aside, and unlocked the door. As I opened the door, and with a little help from the light in my room, Collin's tan face and bright smile appeared.

"Hey what are you doing here?" I whispered. I moved out of the way, allowing him to walk into my room, which he did, followed by him crashing on my bed. "I thought that maybe you would like to hang out on the _last summer night_." He said the last part with a sort of spookiness in his tone.

"Well, what do you have planned?" I asked, while taking a seat in my desk chair. I gazed at the curious Collin as he looked at everything in my room. "You have a nice room." he said, ignoring my question.

"What do you have planned?" I asked again. He turned and faced me with his usual bright white smile, and responded, "Your going to have to find that out later." He bounced off my bed and walked towards me, holding out his hand for me to take. "I don't like surprises." I lied.

He sighed deeply and shook his hand, "Come on. I think your going to like it." I hesitated but uncrossed my arms and grabbed his bulky hand in which he helped me off of the chair.

We walked out side, onto the balcony but I forgot one thing, which caused me to stop in my tracks. "What about Daniel and Kyle. They always know when I leave the house." Collin kept pulling me towards the edge, but of course, I didn't have vampire strength so I wasn't winning.

"I took care of that." He lifted one leg over the balcony's railing but paused when he saw the expression on my face. "Their over at Mike's house watching some game, I told them that I was going for a jog." He explained. He started to bring his other leg over, but paused when he noticed I wasn't moving. "Well, are you coming?" He asked, with a little irritation in his voice.

"I'm not jumping." I stated strongly, but his dull expression didn't change so I knew I had to explain. "I could break something, and I know that I can heal, but it's the pain I don't want to go through. So can you carry me down?" I asked, sounding sweet and child-like. He sighed and gave in.

I was thinking that he would carry me down bridal-style, like how Mike did that one night, but Collin just lifted me up and threw me over his shoulder.

"Oh jeez, how nice of you." I said sarcastically. I quickly closed my eyes as he lifted both legs over the railing. I felt my stomach fly into my throat as we flew down, and the heavy thump as we landed. He dragged me down from his shoulder and settled me down on the ground.

"Thank you." I muttered while straighting out my tank top. He took a hold of my hand, and began running in the direction where Mike and Caleb took me that one night.

"Come on we don't have a lot of time." He tugged on my arm when I was falling behind, but that only happened once, for I was actually keeping up with his pace.

"Where are we going?" I demanded in between breaths, while running. We dodged trees and jumped over roots, also tripping over rocks, well _I_ was tripping over rocks. It wasn't extremely dark out. I was able to see every little detail. I guess it was the bright, white moon that was shining through the tall trees.

"You'll see." He finally said after so long.

For what seemed like forever, we finally stopped, and he let go of my hand. I immediately set my hands on top of my bent knees, trying to catch my breath. "Where--" I took a deep breath. "--Where the hell are we?" I managed to say before realizing that I didn't need to breath.

I stood up straight and looked at Collin. He had a smile spread from ear to ear, which I began to notice what he was smiling about. We were standing at the edge of a field that was filled of what looked to be wild flowers. The moon's light was shining bright on everything, and the wind blew the flowers around causing petals to be whipped all around us. I looked up towards the sky, and little speckles of glitter, the stars, were every where, surrounding the moon.

_I have never seen so many stars before._

"It's beautiful." I whispered under my breath. I turned and faced him with a smile on my face. Collin was flailing his arms at the petals that were flying in his face, but quickly stopped when he noticed I was staring at him.

"I know it's--" He stopped what he was saying, perked up, stood up straight and focused on what was going on, just like a dog would. So I stopped my breathing, which was just a habit, and tried to focus.

Thats when I heard a faint sound of dogs barking, and a man yelling, "Who's out there?" I looked at Collin and he shrugged his shoulders, "Just ignore him. He thinks he owns this whole field."

The mans voice started to get closer, and the dogs barking became closer too. That's when a shotgun shot ran through the air, and birds went flying from out of the field. I flashed a worried look towards Collin, in which he said, "Okay, don't ignore him when he has his shotgun." He grabbed my hand and he dragged me in the opposite direction we were supposed to be going.

"Didn't we come from the other way?" I pointed out. I heard a low chuckle erupt from him before he faintly said, "The field was only half of what I wanted to show you." We once again started to dodge trees, and fly through spider webs, which I somehow got caught up in.

We started to slow, but then came to a startling stop. "Now--" He was breathing deeply, "Now close your eyes." I paused, but played along and I closed my eyes. He began pulling me with his grip on my hand. "Collin, what are you doing?" He kept pulling me faster and faster. "Just keep your eyes closed, and trust me." He yelled. Gun shots and the sounds of several dogs barking rang through the silent woods, causing Collin to run faster, which made me run faster.

"He's a quick old man." I heard him mutter to himself.

I tried pulling my hand free, but his grip was too tight. "Collin, I can't run with my eyes closed." I stated, sounding irritated. I was getting frustrated now. "It's a trail, just trust me." He said once again.

_This better be good. _I thought, but was soon conjoined, inside my head, by his voice, _**Trust me, you will love it.**_ I rolled my eyes behind my eyelids. _I'm guessing people don't trust you a lot?_ I thought, knowing he was still inside my head. _**Why do you say that?**_ He asked. _Because you say 'trust me' a lot. **Yeah well—whatever.**_ He replied.

We were still running at a fast pace, which seemed so pointless, but my mind was telling me, _Run faster._

"Collin, I think were--" I felt my arm being pulled, and my head felt the hard ground, and then my body landed. Everything happened so fast that I didn't know what was going on.

"Victoria, are you okay?" I heard him ask. I picked up my head and began picking some rocks out of my hair."Uh, yeah. I think so. What happened?" I said while spitting dirt out of my mouth. He started to laugh. "I stepped into a hole and tripped, and well... I brought you down with me." I rested on my hands and knees still trying to figure everything out, but then I looked over at him. I saw the biggest grin on his face, and I didn't know if he was actually still laughing, or trying to prevent me from yelling at him. He rolled on his back, and grabbed my hand as I rolled on my back as well.

"Now, Miss Tori, what were you saying?" I laughed. "No point in saying it now..." His grin vanished, and I sighed and gave in. "I was _going_ to tell you that we didn't need to be running that fast any more." A big smile came across his face that reached from ear to ear. _I love when you do that. _I thought. I think that when I hit my head I forgot that he could read minds, but gained back that knowledge _after _I thought that. I'm sure that if I could blush, I would have just then.

But when I finally had the chance to actually look around at my surroundings, it caused me to gasp in shock.

We were laying in tall grass, with big white and yellow flowers, probably weeds, but they were pretty. This field was at least ten times smaller than the other field, and the stars and moon seemed to be brighter than before, casting small shadows of the trees that were surrounding us. The wind seemed to have picked up also, creating a nice breeze, that cooled us off from the summer heat. In the corner of my eye, something was starting to flash on and off, then they were all of a sudden, all around me. I smiled after figuring out what they were.

_Fireflies. _I thought.

I felt him squeeze my hand, and heard him mutter softly, "You like it?" I could tell he had his usual smile on his face, but I was totally speechless. It was amazing.

"It's absolutely beautiful." I answered. I felt him, and saw him in the corner of my eye sit up from where he was laying. I looked up and saw his handsome face, which I could see perfectly, thanks to the bright moon. We stared into each others eyes for what seemed like eternity, but he slowly moved down in my direction, landing his one arm that wasn't holding my hand on the ground beside my head, giving him balance. He leaned in slowly, and softly pressed his lips to mine, causing goosebumps to rise upon my skin. As he slowly released his delicate kiss, a smile appeared on his face, and he soon went back to lying on the ground.

"I used to come here as a kid." He said, sounding like he was starting a story. "When I needed to escape from parents, or whatever, this would be the first place I would come too." He let out a soft sigh, but continued. "The old man with a shotgun, he's my grandfather. But, he doesn't remember me." He paused, which allowed me to ask a question. "Why wouldn't he remember you?" I asked quietly. It was just too peaceful to talk normally.

"He has some memory problems, or something like that." I waited for him to say something more, but he didn't say anything. So I thought that I'd get some questions answered by him. "So why did you want to become a werewolf?" I wondered. He looked over to me, but focused back towards the bright night sky. "My dad was a werewolf. He promised me that he would turn me into one when I turned ten, but my dad died when I was nine, so he didn't have a chance to. Mike was good friends with my dad, so he was the one to turn me into one when I was ten, and also he adopted me." He took a deep breath and let it out in a loud sigh before continuing.

"It has only been about a week since I have joined Mike's group... You know the one that Daniel and Kyle are in?" I shook my head, telling him that I understood. "Yeah, I just joined it, but he won't let me go on 'missions' with them yet, he said I have to train more." I looked over and saw him roll his eyes.

"I can help you train." I mentioned, but I quickly heard a low chuckle come from him. So I squeezed his hand. "Hey, you don't think I can help you?" He moved his head back and forth.

"Well fine, when you come to me because you need someone to train with, I'll just kick your butt, right then and there." I said in a matter-of-fact voice. He didn't say anything more. I picked my head up and looked in his direction, so I could get a better view of him.

His eyes were closed, making him look peaceful. The moon shone on his perfect tan skin and fireflies seemed to have liked him, for they were all over him, causing little yellow dots on his dark clothes.

I laid back down and gazed back towards the light night sky, that consisted of bright dots, the stars, and a brightly lit beach ball sized moon. Fireflies were flying all around me, just like around Collin, and the wind whipped a nice breeze, and also the smell of fragrance from the flowers through the air.

Everything around me seemed to have taken an effect on me. My eyes slowly dropped, creating everything around me to disappear into darkness.

_This was an amazing night. _I thought before I slipped into total darkness.

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**Hope you liked it. :D I sure did.**

**I'm starting to really like this Collin character. **

**Well I hope everyone reviews. I think that since I updated really really early, everyone should review!**

**Sounds like a plan to me.**

**:D**

**Oh and by the way, I'm starting on a new story, but I won't put it on fanfiction till I write a few chapters, and also not until I'm done with this story. **

**So get excited.**


	21. School

**I know... I know... It took forever. Don't be mad at me, be mad at my stupid teachers. My teachers all decided to have majorprojects, at the end of the year, at the same dang time. Plus, I had writers block which totally sucked. Both those put together... not a good combo. But who cares? I updated. Pluuus it's a biggie! Way bigger than all my other chapters. **

**Well hope you enjoy. **

**Don't forget to review!**

**Thanks.**

**:D**

* * *

I moved my legs around, feeling warm sheets against my soft skin. I shot my eyes open as memories began to fill my head of the events that happened last night. _Did he really kiss me?_ I arose from my sleeping position and sat up; stretching my sore muscles. Glancing at the clock I began to realize that my alarm didn't go off.

"Oh my god. I have fifteen minutes to get ready!" I said to myself. Ripping the sheets and blanket off of me, I jumped out of bed. I ran to the door and flipped on the ceiling fan light and headed to the mirror. Quickly, I brushed my silky, wavy hair with my fingers, loving the fact at how easy it is to get ready, now that I'm a vampire. I ran over and grabbed my foundation and mascara and began putting it on before I even reached the mirror. When I was done with that, I headed to my closet to pick out an outfit. Flinging clothes off the hangers and throwing them on the floor, I finally made a decision. I slipped on a white spaghetti strap sun dress and slipped on flip flops right after.

I grabbed my messenger bag, happy that I got everything together a couple days ago, and ran towards my door but paused in front of my mirror. The white sun dress fitted perfectly around my slender body, ending mid thigh, and it seemed to have made my brown wavy hair shine beautifully. I smiled at the 'new' me and headed out the door. I rushed down the hallway, ignoring Faith yelling at me for being in her way, and ran down the stairs which I was immediately in the kitchen in less than a few seconds. _I love having vampire speed._ I thought happily to myself; ignoring the fact that the "other mind readers" were in the kitchen.

"What are you guys doing up so early?" I routinely grabbed a bottle from the refrigerator and quickly without thinking gulped down the thick liquid.

"We wanted to see your miserable face as you head off towards the bus." Kyle said before biting into his toast. I finished the bottle and closed it up with the cap and swiftly threw it in Kyle's direction.

"Actually, Kyle and I had a few things we had to do early this morning." Daniel said while placing his empty plate into the sink. I walked over and picked up the bottle I threw, hitting Kyle on my to the trash can.

"Why can't you guys drive me there? I don't want to take the cheese wagon." I whined. They both laughed but shook their heads in unison. "Too much gas, sorry." Daniel muttered before leaving the kitchen with Kyle right on his heals.

I looked at the clock on the kitchen wall and saw that I had six minutes to get to the end of the driveway where the bus would pick me up. I grabbed my bag and headed toward the front door yelling, "Bye, I'll see you when schools out!" But before I could make it out the door Daniel called my name from behind me. "Hey Tori, don't forget this." He revealed one of the bottles which caused me to throw up a little in my mouth. "Thanks." I muttered under my breath. I opened the door and the bright yellow and orange colors from the rising sun filled the porch.

"Victoria." Daniel called. I paused and slowly turned to look at him. "Don't let anybody see that bottle. Collin, Clarice and Jack will be there to look after you." He gave a quick smile before continuing, "Have a good day at school." I gave him a fake smile before turning to walk down the steps of the porch.

After making it half way down the driveway, I began to remember that I had vampire speed. _Stupid me._ I thought. I started to run slowly but soon enough I was at the dead end of the driveway. I fixed my messed up dress, and combed through my wavy hair, happy that I wouldn't miss the bus on the first day of school. I peered past the tall trees and down the street and saw flashing yellow and red lights. _Well, time to go to hell._ I thought. I combed through my hair once more, making sure my hair wasn't sticking out in all different directions, when all of a sudden two large arms wrapped around my waist.

"Good morning, Victoria." A familiar voice whispered in my ear. _Collin. _I smiled and began turning around, in which he slid his arms off of my waist. "What are you doing here?" I asked. Behind me, I heard the bus stop with it's screeching breaks; sounding as if it was just going to fall apart, but I was trying to ignore it.

"I wanted to make sure that you got around the campus okay." His eyes seemed to have slipped down my body; getting a good look at me. "You look beautiful today." He smiled his bright smile and he grabbed my hand. "Let's go to school." He said sounding enthusiastic, but I knew he hated school.

We walked onto the bus and Collin, being 6'3, had to duck down a little while walking in the isle, which made me laugh. "Sit with me." I heard him say quietly. He paused in the isle and turned towards me while holding out his arm. "Ladies first." I rolled my eyes but proceeded to the window seat.

For a while we sat without saying a word, but every once in a while we would mention something about Daniel and them. There was only me and Collin and the old bus driver who occasionally looked back at us in the rear-view mirror; obviously listening to our conversations. But the silence was becoming unbearable.

"So about last night," I daringly began, "Thank you so much for taking me there. It was _amazing_." I looked away from the window and noticed Collin's white smile against his dark skin. "I knew you would love it." He stated proudly. I turned to look out the window again, fascinated by all the houses I didn't know existed. "And thank you for bringing me home last night. I was really tired." I chuckled a little, but quickly realized there was no need to laugh so I stopped. _Why am I so nervous? _I asked myself.

"No, problem." He said quietly. I looked over just to see if he was falling asleep or something because he was so quiet, but he just looked distracted. "Are you okay?" I asked. He didn't answer right away, but he shook his head 'yes'. He obviously wasn't in the mood to talk so I ignored him the rest of the way to school.

Getting off the bus, I glanced around the packed bus loop. There were all sorts of groups huddled together, talking amongst themselves, or there were a few who were just alone. I became relieved as I thought of how I can now block out everything around me so I wasn't overwhelmed by everyone's thoughts, which was one thing Daniel made sure I mastered. But I was still frustrated because I didn't know how to block my own mind from the other mind readers.

I stopped in my tracks, just to get a good look around, but a girl seemed to have not noticed me and bumped into me. "Hey, watch it." She said as she stopped with her friends. She crossed her arms and gave me a snotty look.

"Your the one who ran into me." I stated before glancing away; trying to ignore her but in the corner of my eye I could see that she wasn't finished.

"Excuse me, what did you say?" The attitude and "preppy-ness" triggered the heartburn in my chest, telling me that I should rip her head off. She flipped her bleach blond hair out of her face, and crossed her arms once again.

"Do I need to pound it in your head?" I asked with venom seeping through my voice. I was getting ready to pounce on her, until two large hands landed on my shoulders.

"Is there a problem Katie?" Collin asked in a gentle voice. I saw the bitch, excuse me, "Katie's" expression turn into a smile, and her tense shoulders relaxed.

"No Collin, I was just telling her that I was sorry for running into her." Katie said with the sweetest voice. I rolled my eyes and made a small gagging sound that only Collin could hear, which he did and I felt a small chuckle form in the bottom of his chest.

"Okaayy... Well this is Victoria, she's new here." He declared proudly. I looked up at him and he smiled, which I did the same. I looked back over to Katie and she glared at me, obviously jealous which made me happy.

"Welcome to Forest Creek high school Victoria. Hope to see you around." She quickly said before swiftly turning around and walking away with her groupies right behind her.

I turned around and Collin's hands slipped from my shoulders. "What a jerk." I said. His expression became confused, telling me that I had to explain.

"She ran into me and she did not say sorry, she was just sucking up to you. If you didn't come I would have kicked her a--" He slipped his pointer finger up to my lips, telling me to hush, so I did.

"Victoria, I have known her for a long time. I even dated her once, but that's not the point. I would believe you over her any day." I smiled and gave him a hug, happy that I had someone here with me at this new school.

"Let's go get your schedule and books in the office." He said as we released the hug. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and we began walking to the office. People all around me began stopping their conversations and glancing in our direction, which I glared back. I ignored them, and focused on trying not to embarrass myself, which would just give them another reason to glare at me. As we walked through the halls, it seemed that everyone knew Collin, for they all said hi to him, gave him high-fives. Some even made him stop and asked him about his summer, which the conversation went on forever.

"Wow, popular aren't we?" I asked while walking away from one of his buddies. He looked down at me and rolled his eyes. "Oh yes. How could an extremely hot guy, me, not be popular." I could hear the sarcasm in his voice, which I was relieved, I hate conceded guys.

When we finally reached the office, Collin held the door open for me like a gentlemen, and we began walking through a hallway heading to the main desk. Several teachers that came out of their office waved and said hi to Collin, which made me curious on how he was so popular.

"Hi, Mrs. Lance. This is Victoria Blaine, she's new here." Mrs. Lance, an old lady, smiled at Collin, and glanced at me while nodding her head. She walked over behind her computer and started typing and clicking away. Butterflies started to form in the pit of my stomach; causing my heart to beat faster. _I'm nervous. _I thought. I felt Collin grab my hand and he squeezed it, before his thoughts popped in my head. _**Don't be nervous. You will be fine.**_Mrs. Lance ducked under her desk, but came up with four text books. _What if nobody likes me?_ She walked up to the counter where we were standing and she handed me the four books and a piece of paper. "Here's your schedule and your books. If you have any questions I'm sure Collin will be able to answer it for you." She turned to him and gave him a smile, but it was almost a flirty-smile which made me gag. Collin took the books from the counter and handed me my schedule, before taking my hand and walking away really fast.

"It's seems like Mrs. Lance has a crush on you." I said, teasing him. He looked down at me with his dark eye brows covering up his hazel eyes, and with a frown on his face.

"No way. Enough of that, I want you to meet Clarice and Jack." I frowned as he pulled me out of the office and into the crowded hallways consisting of loud, talkative students who were informing each other about their summers. In the distance, two people waved in our direction which Collin waved back so I assumed it was Clarice and Jack. When we approached them, they welcomed me with a warm smile.

"Victoria, this is Clarice and Jack. They are apart of Mike's group too." Collin informed me. I smiled and held out my hand for them to shake.

"It's nice to meet you Victoria." Clarice shook my hand. Her bright blue eyes stood out from her tan skin which was half covered by her long blond hair that went down to the middle of her back. Jack had the same blond hair and bright blue eyes as Clarice did, he's just a lot taller. Jack shook my hand, "We have heard _so_ much about you, it's nice to finally meet you." I saw Jack's eyes move up to Collin as he said this, which if I could have, I probably would have blushed.

The loud ringing of the bell caused me to jump, and caused everyone else around us to start wrapping up their conversations and heading to class.

"Hey Clarice, do you mind if Victoria puts her books in your locker?" Collin asked.

"No, not at all." Clarice said while opening her locker. Jack leaned up against the other lockers with crossed arms; watching everyone scatter to their first class of the day.

"Two more years in this hell hole and were done." I glanced over to Jack and chuckled. Collin handed Clarice my books and she closed her locker with force. She turned towards Jack after picking up her book bag that was lying on the ground. "We better get to class before were late bro." Jack jumped off of the lockers and shook his head. "We will see you guys at lunch." He said before walking off down the hall next to Clarice. I gave a small wave and looked up towards Collin.

"You have all of my classes." He stated. I became confused in which he noticed. "Daniel is good friends with the principal. He made sure you had all of my classes." He finished. I shook my head in agreement. I was some what happy with having the same classes, but I knew they only did that to 'keep an eye' on me, and to make sure nothing bad happens. He linked our fingers together as we began walking to the first class.

After turning a few corners, walking up a flight of stairs, we finally made it to our first period right as the late bell rang.

A lady, who was maybe in her 30's quickly interrupted the loud chatter. "Okay class, pick any seat you like." A few people cheered and rushed to certain seats, happy about the fact they could sit next to their friends. "But..." everyone hushed each other. "It won't stay like this. I will have new assigned seats by next week." The teacher finished. Everyone sighed and claimed that she was the worst teacher ever, but me and Collin ignored it all and walked to the two seats that were left in the back.

As we sat down she began introducing herself. "I am Mrs. Hoogley.--" The class broke out in a chuckle, which she sighed but continued. "This year in Algebra you will learn--"

I couldn't focus, I was already falling asleep. Everything around me was being ignored and my eyes started to close slowly. _**Falling asleep already?**_ I heard loud and clear in my head. My eyes popped open and I looked over at the smirking Collin. _Yeah, I was, jerk._I thought. I saw him laugh, but we were soon interrupted by Mrs. Hoogley.

"Am I interrupting your staring contest?" she asked in a sarcastic way. I looked in her direction and noticed the whole class turned to stare at us. I wanted to run out of the classroom but I knew I had to stay so I slowly sank lower into my seat.

"No Mrs. Hoogley. We're sorry for interrupting." He gave her one of his warm, cute smiles that seemed to have worked, because she went back to what she was saying.

_Nice job. Well, I can already tell who will be the teachers pet. _I saw him in the corner of my eye flash me a look; so I ignored him. _**Ha.**_ _**Teachers pet?**_ He thought back. But I still ignored him and began falling asleep once again.

"Umm, excuse me." My eyes flashed open to a group of guys standing all around me. I rubbed my eyes and fixed my messed up hair. "Yes?" I asked, bewildered. A guy with brown spiky hair and blue eyes spoke first from the group. "My name is Alex." I was confused, and I'm sure my face showed it, so he explained more. "We're supposed to introduce ourselves to other class mates." I shook my head; understanding. "Victoria." I quickly said; still trying to wake up.

The three guys standing around me flew their hands out from their sides in my direction for a hand shake. I shook them all as the two whose name I didn't know introduced themselves.

"I'm Chris." One said. "I'm John." The other one said. I quickly smiled but wondered where Collin was. The three guys were blocking my view of the class.

"So Victoria, I'm guessing your new here?" Said Alex. I shook my head while trying to look past them, but there was no success. "Can I have your number?" Chris asked. I was shocked by this question. I have just learned this guys name and he's already asking me for a number. "Umm, I don't think so."

John laughed, while Chris dropped his head and walked away. "Don't mind him. He doesn't know how to handle him self when he's by a beautiful girl." Alex stated. I looked up into his green eyes, and smiled. _Collinnn... Where are you?_ I asked in my thoughts. "Thank you." I muttered, waiting for Collin to burst through the group.

"So _Tori_, where do you live?" John asked. I rolled my eyes. "Not sure. I'm not familiar with roads and stuff." I muttered while trying to look past them. Finally I see Collin in my view walking towards me with a smirk on his face. _**Aww poor Tori can't handle a couple guys.**_ I glared at him as he walked up to us.

"Excuse me guys, she's with me." He said in a deep voice, sounding as if he was just playing around. Alex and John were smaller then Collin, so when they looked up to see who they were dealing with, they quickly walked away.

"Bye Tori, It was nice meeting you." Alex said while walking away. I smiled and waved, and felt relieved.

"Princess Victoria, I have saved your life." He said in the same deep voice. I smacked him on his stomach, hoping to have hurt him, but he laughed. "Hey, what was that for?"

I glared into his hazel eyes. "You didn't save me early enough." I whined as I tried rubbing the sleepiness from my tired eyes. He laughed. "Your not the one who read their minds." He looked behind him, as if he was looking for someone and turned with one of his hands cupped around his face and whispered. "They have some _dirty_ minds." His eyes widened and he acted like he was going to puke. "Ha. Ha. Very funny." I rolled my eyes, but was startled by the bell ringing.

"One down. Five more periods to go." He said while grabbing my hand. As we walked out the classroom I could see the three guys talking to each other and pointing at us, but I didn't care.

"What's next?" I asked. We were weaving in and out of the small groups of students huddled in the hall; still holding hands. "English." I sighed, but was relieved to have him to talk to during all the classes.

The next two periods went by pretty quick. They were the same as my first period class. Teacher introduced themselves, explained the what were learning, and more guys came up to me, introducing themselves and acted like jerks. It was lunch time and me and Collin were walking to the lunch room. We were getting stares and waves from people we just met in our recent classes.

"Wow. Popular aren't we?" He mocked. I flashed him a look and he smiled. "Well... every guy in our grade seems to really like you." We walked through the double doors that led us into the loud, crowded lunch room.

"They don't like me. The only reason they know me is because the teacher told us to go around and meet new people." I explained. I could hear a small, deep chuckle erupt from the bottom of his chest. "Well... your not reading their minds." As we stopped to stand in the lunch line, I looked up and notice that he was looking off in the distance, distracted by his thoughts.

"That's not my fault. You guys won't teach me how to turn the stupid mind reading thing back on." I sighed. He snapped out of his daze and met his hazel eyes with my brown ones. "Daniel doesn't want you reading everyones minds. So he taught you how to block people's thoughts, and I'm pretty sure he won't teach you how to reverse it." He muttered quietly. I unlocked my fingers from his and crossed my arms. "How can I read yours then?" I said bitterly.

He grabbed a tray and started to load food onto it. Lots of food. "Well that's one of the first things we are taught. To get into other mind readers mind, even if they have it 'turned off'. Don't ask me how." I sighed because that was another question I was going to ask. I wanted to know how to do things, but Daniel is too overprotective to teach me anything. He always thinks I'm going to get killed, or be exposed to the public in some way.

I followed behind Collin and we made it to a table filled with other people that knew him. He sat his tray down and pulled a seat up next to another empty one. "Here you go, Princess Victoria." He said jokingly, but I didn't think it was funny. I sat down with a thump and Collin did the same.

"Everybody this is Victoria. She's new here. This is Daniel and Kyle's adopted sister." An 'Ahh, and Ohs' broke through the crowded table. I saw that Clarice and Jack were sitting with us, so I smiled.

All of them had something in common. They were all tan, and the guys were all the same height. "Everyone here is a werewolf." I stared in awe as he continued. "They are all waiting to graduate so they can join Mike and Daniels group, like how I am." I nodded, but focused my eyes on the table. _Do they all know that I'm a vampi-_ I stopped what I was thinking and looked up to notice everyone staring at me.

"Yes they know." Collin said, answering my question. I sighed with relief and the bell for fourth period rang.

"Time to go to Zoology." He stated while getting up from his seat. I did the same and we headed out the doors into the hallways.

"I didn't know there were so many of you guys." I muttered. I looked up at the smiling Collin. "Yeah it's awesome isn't it?" He sounded like a little kid who was apart of some 'cool club', but I agreed, it was pretty cool.

We finally made it to our next class and we took a seat in the back, as usual. The teacher, Mr. Stafford began telling us about himself and about what we were going to learn. _**Are you thirsty and hungry?**_ I heard Collin's voice pop inside my head, so I jumped. I looked over and glared at him. He noticed and did the _same. You need __to warn me when your going to do that._ I saw him chuckle. _**Well are you? Your eyes are turning a little pink. But it's not too noticable. **_My eyes widened and I began to notice the tickle in the back of my throat. _I guess I am. _I turned my attention back to Mr. Stafford so I didn't get in trouble like what happened in Algebra when we were having a so called "staring contest."

Mr. Stafford was going on about the different types of subjects and what projects were in store for us in the future. I sighed but quickly got interrupted. _**I know some where we can go so you can drink one of your bottles.**_ I closed my eyes; irritated about everything that has happened in the past few weeks. _Why did I have to become a monster?_ Even though it was my thoughts, I'm sure Collin could tell the sadness and irritation that I was dealing with right now. _**Tori, your not a monster.**_ This thought was deep and low and I'm pretty sure I heard a small growl form in the bottom of his throat that only I could hear. _Yeah well, normal people don't drink blood. Normal people can't heal fast. Normal people don't read minds either. _I stopped thinking as I noticed what I had thought of last. _Collin I didn't mean that. _I looked over and his face was expressionless. He then gazed away from me and didn't think a thought to me or said another thing to me the whole half of the period.

When it was time to introduce ourselves to each other, Collin quickly got up and walked to the other side of the classroom. I sighed but decided to let him calm down. I got up from my seat so I could meet some new people instead of people coming up to me. I walked a few seats ahead of mine and quickly said a soft 'hello'. A boy with dark brown hair that was almost long enough to reach past his bright green eyes turned with no expression. I stupidly held out my hand even though I got a bad vibe from him, but surprisingly he shook it with soft pale hands.

"I'm Victoria." I said, sort of unsure if introducing myself was a good idea. He smiled, "Caden." His voice was deep and friendly. I sat down in the seat behind him. For some odd reason I felt that I should get to know him.

"Your new here right?" He asked. I shook my head in agreement, "Yeah, I moved here in the middle of the summer." He nodded, but his attention went somewhere else, so I followed it and met with Collin's eyes.

"I think your boyfriend is getting upset." He smiled slightly; trying to hold back a laugh. "He's not my boyfriend and he'll get over it." I answered dully. Caden shrugged and stared at me, which was when I was beginning to notice the fact that I recognized him from some where.

"Are you in any of my other classes?" I asked, confused. He shook his head 'no'. "I don't think so." He was cut off in mid sentence as the bell rang.

"Well it was nice meeting you Caden. Hopefully we can hang out sometime." I said quickly. I got up from the seat I was sitting in and grabbed papers from my desk and began stuffing them in my bag. I looked up and noticed that me and Caden were the only ones left in the class room. _Collin, you can't leave me here._ I thought, hoping he was close enough to hear that. As I reached for the other paper left on my desk my book bag slipped from my hands and landed on the ground with a loud thud.

"Oh, let me help you." I recognized Caden's voice and notice him on the ground picking up a notebook and my bottle. I rushed over to his side and snatched it out of his hands.

"Uh thanks but it's not much, I can get it." I rushed my words and voice was uneven. I bent down and picked up the remaining papers and stuffed it all in my book bag, hoping he didn't notice the contents that were in the bottle.

"What was that?" He pointed to my book bag that was now zipped up, but I knew what he was talking about.

"What are you talking about?" I said, trying to make sure I didn't sound like I was hiding anything, but I knew I was busted.

"The bottle that I picked up. It looked like blood." his voice was shaky. He was nervous and terrified.

I stopped what I was doing and tried acting normal as possible. "Blood? Are you crazy? It's a new energy drink." I lied. "Me and my friends made it. It's pretty good, I'll have to make you some." He slowly nodded his head, but his expression didn't tell me anything, so I didn't know if he believed me or not.

"Well I have to go to my next class. It was nice meeting you Caden." I walked off in a quick pace and headed towards the bathroom. On the way, something triggered inside of my head and the tickle in the back of my throat was worse than ever. Every person I walked by, I took a deep breath; breathing in their scent. I wanted so badly to just bite someone so this irritating tickled in the back of my throat would disappear. _They all smell so good._ I thought, knowing Collin wouldn't be around. I then felt a large hand on my shoulder and turned to notice Jack with a smile that I knew was hiding a worried expression.

"Come on Victoria, let's get you to a bathroom." A small voice said. I looked over to the other side of me and noticed Clarice. "No one's going to be your lunch today." She added, before laughing. I hissed at her, which she took a few steps away from me, almost running into someone. When we reached the bathroom and they shoved me into it, the late bell rang. I walked into a stall while already opening up my book bag. When I found the bottle, I chugged it quickly; feeling a rush of relief flow through me. I was beginning to get used to the nasty taste so it seemed to go down faster.

When I was finished, I threw it away and walked out of the bathroom expecting to have Jack and Clarice standing around, but there he was leaning against the lockers facing the bathroom.

"Having girl problems?" He muttered dryly, with a smirk spread across his tan face. I rolled my eyes and walked towards him.

"Well if you didn't leave me, I wouldn't be having 'girl problems'." I hissed. He held up his hands as if he was surrendering and began walking down the hall again.

I let a little distance form before I followed.

_These are going to be the longest two class periods of my life._ I thought with anger; knowing he was reading my mind.

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**Review people.**

**Please and thank you.**

**:D**


	22. A Get Together

**Okay... sorry. But don't worry, school is out June 4th** I'll be a senior! Woo hoo.** so I can update more often. So get excited.**

**I want to thank everyone that have been reviewing! Thank you, thank you, thank you! **

**But this chapter is really long, so ENJOY!**

**:D**

* * *

The bus ride home was horrific. Collin and I talked and denied what each other said, which caused us to argue... _a lot. _I kept apologizing, but that didn't work. So I just ignored him till we got to my house, and he immediately ran home.

"So, Tori how was your day?" Kelly asked before taking in a mouth full of spaghetti. I snapped out of my recall of the situation that happened today and shrugged my shoulders.

"Could have been better." I muttered as I sat and watched everyone eat dinner. Chris insisted that I sit with the family at the dinner table, whether I eat or not.

She stared at me with intense eyes and I knew she wanted more of an explanation, so I sighed and gave in.

"My teachers are okay, and I met a lot of new people." I said, sounding bored. I looked in the empty seat across the table where Kyle usually sat and glanced next to me at the bare and empty seat where Daniel sits during meals and wondered where they were.

"Did you have any problems with your 'eating habits'?" Kelly wondered. My heart sank as I thought about when I dropped my book bag and the bottle fell out, and my heart sank even more when I recalled Caden, the person I just met holding the bottle in his hands, examining it.

"Nope. No problems at all." I lied. I felt bad for lying but I didn't want Kelly to worry about me all the time. She shook her head. "Well I'm glad you had an okay first day." She said with a smile.

After dinner I helped clean the kitchen and headed up to my room to get ready for bed. I grabbed my pajamas and slowly dragged my feet to my bathroom. I closed the door and noticed my reflection in the mirror. I didn't look as tired as a I felt, surprisingly I looked pretty good. I chuckled at that thought.

I slipped into my pj's and quickly brushed my teeth; eager to get to bed. When I threw my white sun dress in the corner of my room where my hamper was, I fell onto my bed; feeling my soft covers against my tense muscles.

My eyes slowly began to drift away, creating the bright moon that shone through my green curtains to fade away. Then I slipped into the pit of darkness.

--

The rest of the week went by the same as the first day; slow and boring. Except me and Collin weren't completely ignoring each other; we talked every now and then and exchanged our thoughts during class. I didn't have any more problems with my 'drinking habits' like the first day, which is because Clarice and Jack are helping and reminding me.

_**You better pay attention. Mrs. Smith is thinking about calling on you. She thinks your not paying attention. **_Collin's deep voice rang in my head. I snapped out of my trance and focused on the teacher. She was glaring at me, but turned her attention to another student after she noticed I was looking.

_Thanks. _I thought dully. Me and Collin have been arguing about the littlest things, like an old married couple. We don't mean to do it, just one minute were talking and then all of a sudden we just begin to argue.

The bell rang, allowing us to pack up and head to the lunch room. "I hope you all have a great weekend. It's been a great first week." Mrs. Smith yelled over the talkative voices and the rustling of papers.

I slipped my messenger bag onto my shoulder and walked out the door knowing Collin would be there waiting for me against the wall like he always did. He bounced off the wall and began to walk next to me.

"Your welcome." He muttered under his breath. His pace quickened and I began to fall behind so he grabbed my hand, but we didn't lock our fingers with each other like we did before. This type of holding hands was a 'friendly hand hold', so I sighed.

As we entered the lunch room, we routinely walked in the lunch line so Collin could feed his growing self. He packed his tray full of food, enough to feed a family of four. My tray only consisted of an apple and a bottle of water, which was actually Collin's. I was holding it because it wouldn't fit on his tray.

After we paid and walked to our table, we sat down in the two seats we sat in since the first day. "Hey Collin, hey Tori." Clarice said with enthusiasm. Everyone muttered a 'hello', which I gave a smile in return and they quickly carried on their conversation again that they started before we sat down.

The silence between me and Collin was becoming unbearable. But it seems like everything I say he disapproves and we then begin to argue. Something is bothering him, but I know this wasn't the time to ask, so instead I got the nerve to start a conversation.

"So Collin, what are your plans for the weekend?" I turned to look at him, which he was stuffing his face at the moment but he slowed his chewing and slowly glanced at me.

His dark eyebrows turned downward as he continued to chew, and I began to feel all eyes on us. Everyone at the table I'm sure was as shocked as Collin was right now. They have known something was going on between us for a while and how we haven't really had any big conversations, so this was a shocker.

He cleared his throat before he answered. "Umm," He hesitated, still unsure of the situation. "I'm working with Mike, and probably Daniel too. And I have a history project I'll be doing also." He finished with a sigh but continued to eat.

Everything seemed to have become quickly awkward so I kept my gaze on the table, not wanting to look up and see the shocked faces.

Just when I thought it would never end the bell rang, which caused relief to wash over me. I grabbed my bag, threw it over my shoulder and waited for Collin to return from throwing away his trash.

We walked to our fourth period in silence, so that told me that starting the awkward conversation was for nothing. But when we reached the door to our Zoology class, I stopped Collin before he walked inside, which wasn't a very easy thing to do since I'm half his size.

"Collin I wanted to talk to you." My voice sounded uneven, but I knew this was the right thing to do.

His face was dull and expressionless, but I could tell he didn't want to talk from the way he was standing and how he had his arms crossed. But I continued anyway.

"Is something wrong?" I continued quickly so he wouldn't get mad at that question. "It seems like every time we try to have a conversation with each other we just end up arguing." I stood casually, waiting for an answer.

"We had a conversation at lunch." He stated dryly. He leaned back against the wall and propped one of his legs up against it also. He was showing me that he didn't feel like dealing with this right now, but I didn't care; I wanted answers.

"That was _not_ a conversation, so don't bring that up." I jumped slightly, and came back into reality as the last bell rang. The hallways were empty and I could hear Mr. Stafford already starting his lesson.

I sighed. "Well since your not going to be mature about this, then I guess we'll have to wait to talk till you grow up." I looked towards the ground, not wanting to look at his masculine, but gentle face anymore.

I opened the door and walked in which caused Mr. Stafford to stop his lesson, I looked up and noticed the amused faces staring at me and the door when it opened again as Collin walked in. The class broke out into 'Oo's, and Ah's', also some chuckles. I then figured out what they were talking about so I quickly gave Mr. Stafford an apologetic smile as I rushed to my seat in the back and sank into it.

"Collin, just quickly have a seat so I can return to my lesson." Mr. Stafford didn't wait for a reply from Collin; he just continued his lesson. In the corner of my eye I saw Collin take his seat, which was unfortunately right next to me. I wanted to say something, like a sorry, but it wasn't my fault that we couldn't keep a conversation without it becoming an argument.

The rest of the period went by without an apology from him, not even a single thought. I knew something was bothering him, so I figured I could go and talk to Mike this weekend, maybe even Daniel.

I got up from my seat as the bell rang and noticed Collin was already gone, and this time I knew he wasn't waiting for me. I walked out the door and sure enough he wasn't there, which I was a little disappointed but I knew I should let him calm down.

"Victoria!" I stopped in my tracks and turned to see Alex and his three friends, Chris and John rushing towards me. I haven't really talked to them since the first day of school, I only said a few 'hellos' and gave them a few waves every now and then.

"Hey Alex, what's up?" I asked, trying to hide the irritation. All three gathered around me, to close for comfort; with matching smiles.

"Well my parents are out of town this weekend, and I planned a 'back to school' party. Sooo, I was wondering if you would like to come." He was enthusiastic and was slightly bouncing on his heels waiting for an answer from me.

"Well," I hesitated. I was really thinking about the pros and cons and wondering if I should really go to this party. I wouldn't be allowed to tell anyone, and if any of them found out, I would be in _big _trouble.

"Sure, it sounds like fun." I answered, sounding enthusiastic myself. Alex's smile somehow grew bigger, and his eyes lit up.

"Do you want me to pick you up?" He asked. I didn't really think about the ride situation and I know that if I asked Daniel or anyone to give me a ride, they would investigate.

"That would be great." My voice wasn't as enthusiastic about getting a ride from someone I really didn't know, but I was thriving for adventure. "You want me to tell you how to get there now, or later?" I asked.

His smile turned into a half smile, "I kinda already know where you live." He admitted. I was shocked, and I know my face looked it also because his words came out in a rush. "No, no it's not what you think. I found out that your brother was Daniel which is my brothers friend. I have been to your house before." His voice quieted towards the end, probably because my expression didn't change.

My mouth opened to say something, but I was lost for words. _Should I trust somebody I hardly know?_ I thought to myself. _Maybe he's a good guy..._

"Okay, well what time will you pick me up?" I asked, my voice still uneven; making me sound unsure. He thought about it for a moment but smiled and stated, "Seven." I nodded my head, and saw the hallway was cleared out and I knew the last bell was about to ring.

"Well see you tonight then." I muttered, before walking to my fifth period.

--

Collin didn't show up for fifth or sixth, he wasn't even on the bus. As I was walking up the drive way, I was thinking of the possible reasons why he wasn't there for fifth or sixth. _Was it because of me and what I said before we walked into class? No, he's not that sensitive. Maybe he wasn't feeling well so he went home. Or maybe Mike called him out of school for something._ I started to run out of reasons as I walked up the front porch and walked into the house.

"Hello, is anyone home?" I took off my flip flops by the door and walked to the kitchen but not before I peaked into the dining room, which there was nobody. I gazed in the empty kitchen, wondering where everyone was.

"Boo." A deep voice muttered in my ear from behind me. I jumped at the sound of Kyle's voice and swiftly turned around.

"Jerk." I snapped, while smacking him against his arm. Daniel and Mike appeared behind him; both were chuckling.

"How was your first week at school?" Daniel asked while sitting down. I tried to think of the last time I saw them all, which I realized it hasn't been since Monday. Every time I wake up their gone and they don't come back till late at night when I'm asleep, so I never get to see him.

"Fine. I met a lot of new people." I stated, sounding bored. Mike sat down in a seat across from Daniel which was the seat closest to me.

"How was Collin all week? Surprisingly he hasn't been sent home for fighting." Mike chuckled, but stopped as Collin entered the kitchen with crossed arms. I glanced at him, which his expression was the same as before; dull.

"He was fine." I shrugged my shoulders. "He showed me around and introduced me to other werewolves, and he helped me with my 'eating'." I lied about the last part. He didn't help me at all, it was all Clarice and Jack but I was trying to make Collin look good.

"Well good for you Collin." Mike proudly encouraged, "I didn't know you had it in you." Collin rolled his eyes and headed out of the kitchen, showing that he had no interest of talking about school, so I figured that now was a good time to bring up the 'social get together' since Collin wasn't here to object.

"Do you think I could go over to a friends house?" I asked almost too quietly but I knew they were able to hear. Daniel's dark eyebrows went downward, partially covering his hazel eyes, so I knew I would have to explain every little detail.

"Some friends I met want to get together to celebrate getting through the first week of school." I explained. His expression didn't change so I sighed and continued to lie. "It's a movie night. People are bringing popcorn and candy, and we're watching scary movies."

He looked towards Mike and I knew they were having a conversation about this in their minds; leaving me out of it.

"What time and where is this 'movie night'?" He asked as he shifted in his chair; sitting casually.

"Eight. It's at this kid Alex's house and he's coming to pick me up." I clarified. I added the last part because I knew he was going to ask about the whole ride situation later.

He nodded in agreement, in which Mike did also. "Okay, that's fine. What time will you be home?" I hesitated. I really didn't think of when I was coming home so I knew I had to think of something quick so they didn't get suspicious. "Eleven." I sort of said it as a question more than an answer, but he seemed to have not noticed because he nodded his head.

"Thanks." I joyfully expressed. I smiled and quickly ran out the kitchen, heading up to my room. As I reached the stairs, I saw Collin in the corner of my eye watching t.v. in the living room, but I ignored him and ran to my room; vampire speed.

I opened my closet door, wondering what was the perfect thing to wear tonight. I wanted to be comfortable but cute. So I grabbed a pair of jean shorts and a cute white tank top that had laced flower designs all over it. _Perfect._ I thought joyfully.

I slipped into my outfit and jumped in the mirror, excited about actually having other friends instead of Daniel's group. The outfit fit perfectly so I smiled and fixed my wavy brown hair with a brush and some hairspray. I looked at the clock on my bedside table and it read: Six.

_Only one more hour._ I thought as I found my foundation and mascara. I quickly put it on, slipped on some brown flip flops and headed out the door.

I walked past Faith's door and the music was blaring; she was singing at the top of her lungs. Abigail and Andrew were surrounded by a million toys but they were fighting over this one single toy so I swiftly walked past their door so they wouldn't stop me for my opinion on who gets what. I walked down the stairs, bouncing gracefully on my heels on each step. I heard the loud, obnoxious guys downstairs clearly talking about a subject I shouldn't get into; it involved a lot of arguing. So I slipped past the kitchen door at vampire speed and fell onto the couch in the living room, not noticing a certain someone.

"Excuse me." His deep voice cried over the loud television. I glanced in his direction but didn't make eye contact. "Hmm?" I effortlessly said.

He got up from under me-- which I was laying on top of him --and sat in the chair across the room. I shifted myself to where I was sitting up right and was able to see his face.

"Where did you go during fifth and sixth?" I asked; interrupting his show. His hazel eyes rolled and he looked at me with the same dullness as he did earlier.

"I went home. I didn't feel good." He muttered before turning back to his show. I didn't bother to ask him any more questions and was about to get up to go to the kitchen but he stopped me with a question of his own. "Where are you going?"

I hesitated. "To a get together."

"With who?" He asked; starting to get nosy. I rolled my eyes, but told him the truth.

"Alex, Chris, John and a whole bunch of people." I explained.

His dark eye brows slid downward, covering half of his hazel eyes.

"Hmm, a get together with Alex." He said, not convinced. I got up from the couch, not wanting to deal with anything and headed for the loud kitchen.

"Your ridiculous. I'm the one who killed the blonde one!" Kyle shouted, but they all quieted as I entered the kitchen.

I opened the refrigerator and grabbed one my bottles; drinking it so I didn't have to bring one tonight.

"Why was Collin gone during fifth and sixth?" I asked curiously. Mike's gaze from the table turned towards me; startled by my question.

"Well, don't tell Collin but all of us in the pack are thinking of adding Collin to the pack early. We picked him up from school today and he trained with us and he's doing really really well so we might add him before he graduates." Mike explained.

I threw my bottle into the open trash can as I thought about how Collin has been really dull and angry lately so I had to know. "Collin has been acting strange lately. Is he okay?"

Daniel wanted to answer this one, "Collin is going through... some changes. We think the reason why he's so different now is because he's quickly becoming one of us, he quickly developing. That's why we might have him join our pack before graduation." I nodded; understanding the whole reason why he's been so different.

I turned to the oven clock and it told me that I had five minutes before Alex picked me up. "Okay, I have to go. He's going to pick me up soon." I started walking out of the kitchen but a large hand touched my shoulder.

"Tori, don't do anything I wouldn't do." The corner of Kyle's mouth slid upward into a smirk. "Which is what?" I laughed and his smirk vanished as I bolted out of the kitchen and out of the house; at vampire speed.

_Haha, I'm good._ I proudly declared. I began walking faster as a dark green four-door truck pulled up at the end of my driveway and Alex's head came into view as he rolled down the window.

"Hey Tori!" He yelled from the truck. I waved and my walking turned into a light jog; not wanting him to wait.

"Hey Alex." I smiled and slammed the truck door shut while he rolled up the automatic window. "Thanks for picking me up." I thanked.

He started to drive down the long winding road that tall green trees surrounded. We were going so fast that the trees blended all together making it look like a solid green and brown wall.

"No problem. I'm just glad you could go." A smile grew upon his face causing me to smile in return. But his eyebrows quickly covered up half his eyes, looking as if he was concentrating and his smile vanished. "So did your boyfriend say you could go or did you not tell him." He wondered, and I knew he was talking about Collin when he said 'boyfriend'.

"First of all, he's not my boyfriend. Second, I told him I was going to a get together with you, Chris, John and other people." His expression changed, and he was about to say something but I continued. "He didn't care that I was going. Were sort of not talking to each other." My voice quieted as I said the last part which I'm sure he could tell that I was upset, so he kept his gaze on the road.

We didn't say anything else after that, which made it a little awkward, but he soon made it better again.

"We here." I could tell by the sound of his voice that he was excited about this party. It gave me confidence that this party was going to be awesome and that I'll have a great time even though I didn't know anyone.

Breaking off from the long main road was another long dirt road that led us to a large, two story house with a white picket fence and a large garden with every flower anyone could think of. I smiled at the sight.

"You like?" He asked. "My mother designed it." I nodded but was still in awe at the sight of the amazing house.

We pulled in front and he turned off the car. "Tonight is going to be fun." He muttered before getting out of the car. I followed.

We walked up a few steps and in between a few columns that was holding up the upstairs balcony. He opened the unlocked door and revealed sort of the same layout as my house but everything was just bigger, and there were just a few more rooms. We walked past the stairs and headed towards the back of the house to a large door that opened to a giant porch and pool with a diving board at one end and a small slide at the other.

I heard Alex chuckle beside me. I'm guessing it was because my mouth was hanging open; in shock.

"Wow." was all I could say. It was absolutely amazing. Back behind the pool a small bar was set up with beach, and camping chairs and tiki torches surrounding it. A table off to the side on the porch had all different kinds of chips and soda and desserts.

"You did this all by yourself?" I asked, sounding a little shocked. In the background I heard a faint noise—that only I could hear—of people talking and car doors slamming; telling me that the party was about to start.

He laughed, "Why you don't think a guy like me can plan a party?" He didn't wait for an answer. "People are here. I'll be right back." He slid his phone up to his ear and mumbled things I didn't care to hear and headed into the house.

I walked over to one of the chairs seated around a pretty glass table and waited; unsure of the party that was starting. The sun was setting, which casted an orange glow over everything that didn't have a tree to cover it up, and the tiki torches lit up everything out in the lawn that the porch light couldn't light up.

The sliding glass door opened and a group of people walked through. A lot of them I knew from my classes and others I have seen around school.

"Hey Victoria!" A girl from my second period ran up to me and hugged me. "Hey, Becca." She released me from her hug but didn't walk away.

"I didn't know you were coming." she said sounding a little shocked. I sighed, "I need a social life so I figured that coming to this party was the first step." I muttered while looking around to see if I knew anyone else. She started to laugh, "Yeah, I guess your right." Someone sitting behind the bar out in the lawn called her name, so she turned to me and smiled. "I got to go, but hopefully we can talk later?" She asked, but I knew we wouldn't be able to talk later either.

I nodded my head, "Sure thing." She gave me a fast hug and jogged over to the bar.

More and more people poured out from Alex's house, some in groups and some by themselves. There was so many people outside, I thought that maybe half the school was here. A lot of guys were already in the pool, diving off the diving board or sliding down the slide, also wrestling in pool. Girls who didn't want to have their hair ruined so soon were off to the side watching and giggling to each other about them.

I decided to head into the house where music was blaring from and where people were laughing and where some were arguing. As soon as I walked in, the smoke in the house seemed to have surrounded me. It was hard enough to see practically in the dark but with smoke too, it made it even worse.

When I knew I made it to the living room, it was extremely crowded. People were dancing, bouncing to the song's beat, others were in the corner smoking and drinking, claiming they saw flying pigs. I rolled my eyes and headed for the kitchen thinking that no one would be there; but I was wrong. A group of guys were holding a can of beer, but they were started to get into an argument so I didn't want to be apart of that mess so I headed out of the kitchen and out of the house.

Stepping outside onto the porch, the fresh air hit me like a ton of bricks. It was good to get out of the house.

More people were in the pool, including the girls who were off the side, giggling and talking earlier. When I was about to sit down, I heard a few screams and a couple people rushed out of the house. Some laughing—clearly drunk—and some with shocked looks on their faces. Finally a boy from my sixth period class told me what happened.

"Josh got hit in the head with a golf club because he was dancing with Cory's girlfriend, and now theres a big fight." He explained but he quickly broke into laughter while walking off.

The porch got really crowded as people rushed to get away from the nonsense, which caused me to be pushed into the back corner. The music from inside the house got louder so it trailed outside which the group of people who were standing were now beginning to dance. I didn't want to be in the middle of it so I pushed through the crowd of sweaty people and stood by the pool, watching the chaos._ Maybe I should leave. _I thought. _I could run home._ I turned towards the woods, thinking of the possibility of running the whole way home, and I cringed at the thought.

But something in the distance caught my eye. I walked to the edge of the porch to get a better look and noticed lights stuck in the ground, exposing a dirt path heading into the thick woods. My curiosity got the best of me and without anyone noticing I walked to the path and began walking it. The dirt path was clear of roots and large tree trunks so I had no problem walking it. I could see nothing but darkness surrounding me as I gazed into the woods. The light wind created the leaves on the ground to dance in the air and the trees to rustle against each other. My wavy hair danced in the wind also, blinding me from where I was headed, so I twisted it around and laid it on my left shoulder.

After just a few minutes of walking from the porch, the lights ended but the path continued. _Maybe they haven't finished putting up lights yet. _I wondered. I began to realize a faint noise that sounded like a small river so I decided that walking a little bit more wouldn't hurt.

It only took me several steps to realize that I was on a small bridge that was over a small flowing river. The lights that seemed too far away to cast light where I was standing showed me that I was wrong. I could see a lot from the faint glow, but if I went over the bridge that's where the darkness would take over. So I paused in the middle and stopped to take in the sounds that surrounded me. The wind howled, the small slushing sound of the river slapping against the rocks, and the leaves rustling whenever the river swept them off the ground. _It's so...relaxing..._ I wanted to stay out here forever, the sounds all blending together eased my mind.

But something was out of place; not right. It wasn't the wind nor the river, it was twig snapping. My head snapped in the direction of the lighted path and a dark figure was walking towards me but the shadow paused.

I froze. The small faint of light shone enough to only give a few features of the shadows face. I wasn't for sure, but I still was frozen in place.

_Aidan. _I thought.

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**Yeah sorry... a cliff hanger. But if alot of people review I'll update tomorrow, and that's a promise! So go and click the review button and review!**

**Please and thank you!**

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	23. Trust Me

**Well I updated like I promised. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, it helped me write a little faster. I just wish more people would review. But it's nice to see new people that haven't reviewed before! and of course it's nice to see the same familar people also! Thanks again.**

**Now I just hope to see more reviews this time. Maybe if I get more than I usually do I'll update really soon again. XD lol**

**Okay I'm done. ENJOY!**

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The wind howled, the small slushing sound of the river slapping against the rocks, and the leaves rustling whenever the river swept them off the ground. _It's so relaxing..._ I wanted to stay out here forever, the sounds all blending together eased my mind.

But something was out of place; not right. It wasn't the wind nor the river, it was twig snapping. My head snapped in the direction of the lighted path and a dark figure was walking towards me but the shadow paused.

I froze. The small faint of light shone enough to only give a few features of the shadows face. I wasn't for sure, but I still froze in place.

_Aidan. _I thought.

"Oh, I didn't know you were out here." The voice was familiar but it wasn't Aidan's, so my body relaxed a little but I was still tense; ready to run. The shadowed figure's face seemed to get brighter as it came closer, making me realized who it really was.

"Caden." I whispered with relief. The breeze seemed to stop, but the river remained in motion as we stood in silence.

"Uh, yeah. Who did you think it was?" His voice was shaky; I wasn't sure if he was nervous to be around me or if he was still startled by me being out here without him knowing.

"An old--" I paused, taking a deep breath. "An old friend." I lied, Aidan was nothing like a friend to me. "In the dark, you looked like an old friend that I once knew." I explained and lied once again. I could see his head nodding in the dark; telling me he was understanding.

Then that's when it hit me, Caden's features resembled a lot like Aidan's. That's why when I first met him, I thought I had already met him before, and when I thought he was Aidan in the dark.

"Do you know a someone named--" I paused, really thinking about what I was doing. _Should I really be asking this? He wouldn't know a vampire that was born like 117 years ago._ "Ah never mind." I shrugged it off, but he wanted to know. "What's the name?"

I really didn't want to ask him now. I'm pretty sure he wouldn't know him. _Unless he's a vampire himself. _I thought, but chuckled lightly enough so that he couldn't hear.

"What's the name?" He repeated. I didn't have to see his face to know that he was getting irritated, his voice explained it all; so I gave in. "Aidan." I quickly sputtered out. I waited for a 'no', maybe a laugh, heck, maybe even a 'yes, maybe he actually knew an Aidan; but he just sat there, not saying a word. I could feel the awkwardness flowing in the now existing wind, making me wish I was back at the party, or even better... at home.

But he finally shifted so he was leaning against the handrail of the bridge. "Yeah, I do know an Aidan." My head snapped in his direction and my expression was shocked. Not because he knew an Aidan but because of the way he said it. He said it slowly and unsure, it sounded almost as if he was scared like me of a guy named Aidan. I broke away from my long gaze and turned my back to him, facing the black wall of darkness.

_Could he really know **my **Aidan? _

_Nah... he couldn't... _

_Unless he's a vampire.. _

_No. He couldn't be a vampire. _I argued with myself. I turned my body back around, but only back to where I was facing the river, which I could still see him in the corner of my eye. I could still tell that he was looking at me, so I daringly met with his gaze.

"Tori, I have something to tell you." He rushed out, and his voice sounded a little higher than usual. My knees started to shake from nervousness; not really sure what he wants to ask me. "But you have to promise me you won't tell anyone else." He quickly added. _Oh my god. Hes going to tell me a personal secret? But I barely know him. _

I nodded, not saying anything because I was lost for words. He sighed and was about to begin but we got interrupted.

"Ooo, what do we have here?" A voice said. Three shadows walked up to me and Caden, one stopped by Caden and two others walked over and stood on the bridge with me. One was just too close, so close, I could smell the alcohol seeping through his lips as he breathed. I could tell they were all obnoxious males, just because of how big their shadows were, and because of their deep laughter.

"Sorry to ruin your party dude, but she's with us." It was the guy who was closest to Caden. He was leaning on Caden for support as he wobbled; he was too drunk to even stand up straight. Caden threw the drunk guy off of him and stomped off along the path. I wanted to scream for him to stay but I couldn't make a sound, it was as if my throat was clogged with something.

The guy closest to me put his arm around my shoulders and whispered in my ear. "That dude that was with you," He hiccuped, but continued. "is totally wrong for you." I tried to wiggle out of his grip but his grip wouldn't loosen and he continued anyways. "You need someone who's handsome, kind, and strong. Which totally describes me." He broke out into a booming laughter, which his buddies did also.

"You forgot to add asshole." It slipped out, and him and his buddies laughter stopped. I didn't mean to say it, but it sure felt good to speak my mind.

He released his grip on me and crossed his arms across his big chest. He was facing the light so I was able to get a good look at him. He was tall and muscular, and he seemed too old to be in high school.

"She just called you an asshole Matt." said the guy who hasn't said anything until now. I recognized the voice. It was Chris who is friends with Alex. He was the one who tried to get my number five seconds after he met me.

Chris started to laugh but Matt held up his hand which caused him to stop laughing. Clearly this 'Matt' was in charge of this little group.

"Listen here _girl_. No one calls me that." He took a step forward and grabbed my waist; pulling me closer to him. My body was frozen in place and my mind just hasn't been working this whole time.

_Why didn't I get vampire strength? _I thought. As he leaned in for a kiss, something seemed to flip on the 'on' switch to my brain and body because I finally knew I was in trouble and I needed to get away. As he got closer, I turned my head so his lips brushed up against my ear and I tried wiggling out of his grip around my waist; but I was unsuccessful. With one hand he grabbed my chin to hold it in place while he leaned in closer once again, his breath reeked of alcohol. His other hand grabbed my back so he had a better hold on me. _Okay that's it._

I brought back my leg and swung it till it hit his shin. His hold on my back slipped away and he cried out in pain, so I swung around and ran only a few steps to the end of the bridge, but a shadow jumped in front of me.

"The parties not over yet baby." He started to walk closer to me, but was wobbling in the process. I began walking backwards but ran into something solid, which I flipped around to see Chris with a smirk on his face. "Can I have your number now?" He asked sarcastically before he broke out into a laughter. He soon quieted after getting smacked in the head from Matt who has clearly recovered from me kicking his shin.

"I am--" He was breathing deeply, as if he just ran a mile. "--_done_ with you." He took a step closer to me and grabbed me by my neck; trying to choke me. I tried to manage a scream but it came out as a raspy breath of air.

"Chris. Aaron. Do you think anyone would miss her if we were to kill her right now?" My eyes widened and I started to kick, but I wasn't close enough to really hurt him. I knew he couldn't kill me from choking me because I didn't need to breathe, it was just the whole thought of them trying to _attempt_ to kill me.

"I wouldn't miss her." Aaron claimed from behind me. His laugh was loud and deep; which made me flinch.

"She didn't give me her number, so I woul--" Chris's voice was cut off by a deep scream from behind me, causing Matt to drop me.

I was kneeling on the ground, trying to recover from the tight grip around my neck; forgetting about the scream that saved me from this horrible mess. I turned to look at what might have gone wrong and a large dark figure was blocking the path way; standing next to Aaron who was lying on the ground, clearly unconscious.

"What the hell?" Matt's voice rang out as he passed by me with a fist in the air. I got to my feet and past Chris so I was standing in the middle of the bridge. Chris stood in place, shaking in his shoes; probably more terrified then me.

The two dark figures started to exchange punches, but the large figure didn't get hit once. I could tell who was who because Matt wasn't as big as this new shadow. The larger figure finally took a punch to Matt's face, causing Matt to fall to the ground; which he stopped moving.

"Please don't hurt me." Chris managed to stutter. He held up his hands; surrendering.

There was a long pause but the large figure stepped out off of the path and sighed. "Go." his voice was deep, seeping with venom; and I recognized this voice immediately, causing my stomach to drop and my knees to feel weak. I grabbed onto the handrail, keeping myself from collapsing on the bridge.

Chris bolted off of the bridge and past the dark figure, muttering a 'thank you' and the dark figure didn't chase after him; he just stood in place.

_Collin._ I thought nervously. He crossed his arms and looked into the dark woods, distracted by his thoughts. The silence was becoming unbearable. The calming wind and rain didn't seem to ease my mind anymore, it just made me irritated.

"Do you know that Daniel and everybody trusted you?" His voice was clam, but I knew it's always calm before a storm, so I'll have to wait to get yelled at later. I could hear him take a deep breath before continuing. "They trusted and believed that you were going to a get together tonight." His voice was still light and soft, but I could tell he wasn't finished. "And you had to actually lie to their faces." In the faint light I could see his head shake in disappointment. "I can't believe you." He had to add.

"Why do you care?" I muttered softly, but I knew he was able to hear. He stomped in my direction, making me flinch from every step he took. His face was inches from mine, causing chills to run up my spine every time I felt his heated breath on my face.

"What do you mean, _why do I care_?" His voice was a whisper, but was seeping with rage. "If I didn't read Alex's mind today in class about him having a party, you probably would have been dead." He threw his hands up in the air, causing me to take a step back. "What's worse than that, is that you could have exposed who you really are. _A vampire._ Did you forget about that?" He questioned with madness. His hands were shaking with anger.

I took a step forward; rage boiling inside of me. "I'm so _sorry _about wanting a _real_ life. I'm _sorry_ I don't feel like hanging out with a bunch of _werewolves_ all the time." I shouted.

His eyes narrowed and his mouth twisted into a snarl. "Well _I'm _sorry were not a perfect little_ bloodsucker _like _you._"

That _really_ hurt me; badly. He crossed the line. I shrunk back so I was leaning against the handrail. "Don't bring that up." I muttered. My voice was shaky and small water droplets were starting to form in the corner of my eyes. "You _know_ I didn't ask for this." I whispered softly.

His furious glare turned into soft and gentle and his large arms wrapped me into a hug. I rested my head against his hard and warm chest, trying to calm down by the rhythm of his breathing.

"I'm so sorry." He whispered, his voice was the gentle and calming voice I last heard almost a week ago. "I didn't mean that."

He lightly kissed the top of my head again and again, making me wish this moment would last forever. But I knew it had to end sometime. _**Someone is coming. **_Collin's thought popped in my mind.

"Hey kiddies, parties over." I wiped my eyes and looked past Collin's broad chest and a man with a flashlight shined it on the ground in front of us. When I looked closer I could see the man was wearing a uniform with a silver badge pinned by his left shoulder.

"Okay sir, we'll be back in a second." Collin was sucking up to the officer, if he didn't, the officer would have escorted us back. The officer nodded his head and headed back with the flashlight in hand.

He turned towards me and stared into my eyes, his hazel ones warmed the chills spread over my body. His warm familiar smile that I have missed for so long, spread across his tan face. "Let's get you home." He started to pull towards the path but I kept my ground. His eyes narrowed and his smile disappeared.

"I don't want to go home." I pleaded. "They'll kill me." His mouth turned into a half smile and I knew he was holding back a laugh. "They won't kill you. I'll make sure of it. _Trust me_." He promised. Every time he says the words _trust me_, my mind seems to melt; forgetting all my troubles, making me feel better because I know he really means it.

He smiled, making me smile in return and he pulled me along the path with his big arm wrapped around me.

As we reached the house, practically everyone was gone, except for the people passed out on the ground. Trash was scattered everywhere. Beer bottles were broken in pieces, food was splattered and smeared on the walls, plus blood was trickled on the carpet. Collin squeezed me closer to his warm body; holding on to me. I plugged my nose and closed my eyes as we walked out the front door, which I was glad I drank a bottle before I left the house.

Collin and I walked past the officers and a group of teenagers who were slurring their ABC's and wobbling while trying to walk a straight line--they were getting tested to see if they have been drinking--Collin politely nodded and muttered a goodnight to the officers which they did the same.

"Are we running home?" I shuddered at the thought, and he seemed to think it was ridiculous too because he was laughing. "No way. I have a car." He pointed in the direction of a red Ferrari; my jaw dropped.

"You _drive_ _that?_" I asked in disbelief. I wasn't just questioning the fact that he was driving a Ferrari, but questioning his driving skills. His eyebrows narrowed, "What do you mean by that?" We made it to the car and he opened the passenger side; helping me in. He ran around the front and got into the drivers seat.

Even in the dark I could see his usual big grin spread from ear to ear. "Nervous?" He asked. I took a deep breath and my eyes widened which caused him to chuckle. "Don't be. I drive really good."

The drive home was shorter than when me an Alex drove to his house. During the drive I looked at the speedometer and it was high, too high for this road, but I kept saying to myself that the reason why we got home so early was because he took a short cut; it calmed my nerves. We started to pull up the drive way, causing me to cringe at the thought of their faces as I walked through the door. Collin seemed to notice in which he grabbed my hand that was rested in my lap and squeezed it. "Don't worry, I'm here." He was nervous too, I could tell by the shakiness in his voice.

We parked behind Daniel's car and he got out first, lightly closing the door. I was actually thinking of hopping in the drivers seat and driving off, but I knew I wouldn't make it down the driveway without crashing, so that idea quickly shot out of my mind.

"Come on Tori. Let's go inside and get it over with." He grabbed my hand and pulled me from my seat, dragging me up the driveway after closing the car door.

The few steps we walked seemed like I was walking a mile; it took forever. My knees started to shake but Collins strong arm was around me; ready to catch me if I fall. He grabbed the doorknob and opened the door which it slowly creaked open like a bad horror movie.

I was expecting Kelly, Chris, Daniel and Kyle to be standing with their arms folded with death stares expressed on their faces, but no one was there.

We slowly walked in and Collin released me so he was able to close the door behind us. In the background I heard the television on, which was coming from the living room so I knew someone was watching and waiting for me to get home; I just couldn't get the nerve to look.

But with out thinking, I glanced in the living room and Daniel and his 'gang' were all scattered around the living room glaring at us. Daniel got up from his seat and rushed towards us, followed by everyone else. I felt Collin grab my hand from behind me, reassuring me that everything was going to fine, but I knew it wouldn't be.

_This isn't going to be pretty._ I thought to myself.

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**So the relationship with Collin and Tori is back on! lol Sorry I cut the chapter again, leaving you wondering what's going to happen next... MY BAD. I just couldn't write anymore.. I have exams tomorrow. boo hoo...**

**Well hopefully ALOT more people will review, and thanks again to those who have been reviewing.**

**:D**


	24. History

**Okay, forgive me. I didn't know I was going to be so busy during the summer. Plus, I've had writers block, it has been horrible. This chapter was hard to write, but I finally got it done. I will put up the next chapter faster than I did with this one. **

**Well I hope you enjoy. **

**:D**

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The couple of seconds we stood staring at each other seemed like years. Collin was squeezing my hand every once in a while, probably making sure I was still conscious.

"Where were both of you tonight?" Daniel's voice cut through the silence, causing me to flinch. I took a small step back which I hit Collin's hard chest but looked up to him, confused. Didn't they tell him to come and get me?

"We were both at Alex's party." Collin confessed. I still held my glare but he didn't look at me. _What? _I thought, but I knew he wasn't going to respond. Caleb's eyebrows raised before he walked away, pulling Kyle and Brent with him; knowing that this was none of their business. But Daniel and Mike were furious, towering over Collin and I.

"Tori, I can't believe you. You said you were going to a get together with a couple friends." Daniel's voice raised but he quickly took a deep breath; calming himself.

"And Collin, you never told us where you were going and here you are telling me you were at a party!" Mike threw his hands in the air, stepping away, probably so he wouldn't strangle Collin.

Both of them never let us get a word in, they talked one after another. "Tori, you don't understand how much trouble your in. When Kelly and Chris get home they will be livid when they find out. Go up to your roo--" Collin interrupted Daniel. "It was my fault. I dragged her there. She didn't want to go but I didn't want to go by myself, so I made her come with me." Daniel's body relaxed but his furious expression didn't change. They both were staring Collin down and I wanted to say something but I didn't know what to say. "I told her to tell you that she was going to a get together, and I didn't tell you anything because I didn't think you guys would know that I was gone."

Collin told me that everything would be okay and that they wouldn't kill me. But I didn't know he was going to take the blame for it all, now their going to kill _him._

I looked back up to Collin, hoping he would explain everything to me. His hazel eyes met mine, they were hurt, like he was in pain.

"Is this true Victoria?" Daniel's voice cut through the silence; making me want to hide in a hole.

_**Say yes.**_ Collin's voice pleaded in my head.

_No. You only came to the party to get me. I'm not lying. _

_**Victoria, tell him I made you go! **_His angry, pleading voice raised in my head, causing a headache to form. I glared at him, but his eyes were still the pain looking eyes as before; I couldn't deal with it.

_**I... can't. **_I looked towards the ground but he squeezed my hand, forcing me to look at his hurt expression once more.

**_Victoria... _**His voice turned soft.**_ Daniel was planning on convincing Kelly and Chris to ground you for a long time. Plus, he was going to make me stay away from you. If you say yes, all they will probably do to me is make me train a few extra hours. _**

I knew he wanted a response, but all that kept popping in my head was them accepting him into their gang. I was afraid they would make Collin wait, or even worse, maybe they would think Collin isn't good enough for the gang so they would accept him at all.

_**Please. **_

I focused my attention towards the ground, not wanting to look up at the impatient Daniel and Mike. "Yeah." I sighed, "He made me go."

Collin squeezed my hand and sighed in relief. "Well Collin, this isn't the first time you caused trouble." Mike shook his head. "I have run out of ideas on ways to discipline you, and none of those ideas have seemed to affect you." Mike ran his fingers through his hair.

"Well he could clean the house. It's pretty messy." Caleb said while coming out of the kitchen, followed by Kyle who had his usual smirk spread across his face. Mike scratched his head, thinking about the stupid suggestion Caleb came up with. "I guess your right. Tomorrow, Collin can clean the whole house, top to bottom."

I heard a tiny sigh erupt from Collin's chest, so I squeezed his hand this time. "And Tori will join him." I flashed a glare towards Daniel, unsure of what he said.

"Tori, I think that it's only fair that you help. You went to the party when you could have called me or anybody about the situation. So you can help clean Mike's house."

I let out a tiny sigh, which caused Collin to chuckle. "I guess it's a date." Collin laughed, making me smile. "I guess so." I grumbled.

"Do you think Victoria could spend the night?" Everyone fell silent. "--So we can get an early start in the morning?" Collin added just for Daniel and Mike's sake.

They exchanged looks and obviously their thoughts too because Collin jumped on his heals. "Go pack your things." He pushed me in the direction of the stairs. "Really?" I asked while walking up the stairs. "I can?"

"Don't get excited. You have a big job to do tomorrow." Mike stated, followed by a chuckle. I stomped up the stairs but quickly ran to my room when I got to the hallway. I grabbed my book bag that I haven't touched since I moved in with the Blaine family. It had clothes, bathroom stuff and a book just in case I didn't like the Blaine family and I wanted to run away. I paused in my tracks and thought of first few days of living with them and how It was only a few months ago that I didn't know about _werewolves_ and that I was _human_.

Collin's head popped out from behind my door."Ready? Mike ran here, so he is going to drive us home." I nodded and rushed to his side; trying to get the flashbacks out of my head. I grabbed his hand. "Ready." I smiled.

--

The car ride over to Mike's house was mentally painful. Mike talked about what we did wrong, why we had to clean the whole house, also he listed the things we had to do tomorrow. When we pulled in the driveway, me and Collin almost jumped out the car even though it was still moving; we wanted so badly to get out.

"He sure can talk a lot." I muttered under my breath. We were walking a good distance in front of Mike, making sure we wouldn't get caught into one of his lectures again.

"Yeah, I know. Now you see why I don't bring my friends over." He chuckled as we walked into the house. When I looked around, I almost dropped the bag I was holding. "This is not a mess." I took a deep breath. "This is a disaster."

Pillows from the couches were everywhere, plates with some food left on them were sitting by the couches or on the floor. Stains covered the carpet, and clothes were in a pile in the corner.

"This will take us a week to get this all cleaned up." I whined.

Collin grabbed my hand and started to pull me to his room. "It won't take us a week." He opened his door and turned on his light before turning towards me. "It will take us a month." He laughed, but stopped after noticing I wasn't laughing with him. He walked to his bed in two easy strides and sat my bag down on the bed.

"You can sleep on my bed. I'm going to sleep on the couch in the living room." He walked towards his dresser and pulled out some clothes.

"You sleep on your bed. Your too big to sleep on that small couch." I stated before walking out the room. I heard Collin's loud steps walking towards me and he grabbed my elbow. "Tori, please sleep in my room. I'll be fine on the couch." I looked into his pleading hazel eyes and couldn't resist. "Fine. But if I sleepover again, I get the couch!" I smacked his hard chest which caused pain to shoot up my arm and making me wince.

He started to laugh, revealing his bright white smile that I love. "Goodnight." He muttered in between laughs. He leaned in and kissed me on the cheek, but I wanted more. I grabbed his hand and pulled him down to my height. I leaned in ready to kiss him on the lips but my lips brushed by them and landed by his ear. Embarrassed by his rejection, I swiftly turned on my heels, ready to run and hide in Collin's room.

"You guys are going to have fun tomorrow!" I turned back to see Mike with his arm around Collin's shoulder and messing with his hair. "Now you make sure you get things done tomorrow. I don't want any _stuff_ going on, if you know what I mean." Mike nudged Collin in the side with his elbow, making Collin blush.

Collin pushed Mike off of him. "Okay, Mike. We get it." Mike exchanged glances towards us and grabbed Collin. "Night Tori." Mike muttered before pulling Collin towards the living room. I smiled and walked into his room and closed the door.

Realizing how tired I was, I dragged my feet towards his bed, plopping myself on it. I opened my book bag and pulled out my pajamas and tooth brush and got ready for bed

--

I slowly opened my eyes which revealed my alarm clock with it's bright red colors telling me that it was way to early to be awake. _2:43 am? Ugh. _I rolled on my side; trying to fall asleep again. As my eyes slowly closed, a chill ran up my spine, causing my eyes to fly open. My body stiffened and I stopped my useless breathing. A shadowed figure was casted upon the wall, which I had my back to the window. The shadow, looked to be from a small body, not like a werewolf body.

_Aidan. _I wondered_._

This urge inside of me broke free and I screamed, but was still frozen in fear. I closed my eyes – seeing if it was nightmare – but opened them, revealing nothing but Collin's blue wall.

The door flew open and I screamed again, but quickly calmed down after the light flew on and I noticed it was Collin. He rushed to my side with a worried expression. "What happened?" His words came out rushed and frantic.

"I--" I took an unnecessary deep breath. "There was a shadow of a person on your wall." I pointed to the spot where I saw the shadow. "It was coming from your window, but I was too afraid to see what it was."

He smiled, but rushed to the window and looked all around. "Well-- I don't see anything." He closed the window curtains and rushed back to my side. Thats when I realized he was only wearing dark blue pajama pants and his tan, muscular chest was fully shown.

He sat down next to me and started to play with my long hair, twirling it in his large hands. "Are you okay?" I leaned my head against his hot chest and he flinched, causing me to look into his hazel eyes; wondering what was wrong. "Your freezing." He stated. I backed away but he put his hand around the back of my head and placed my head against his chest again. "I don't mind." He muttered softly.

He started to play with my hair again. "I'm a little shook up." I muttered. Chills ran up my spine again as I thought of the shadowed figure. "That really scared me." He chest roared and shook as he laughed. I backed away so I could get a better look at him.

"Sorry." He laughed again. "Some _vampire _you are." I gave him a puzzled look. "It's just that, a normal vampire would want to kick who ever was out there's ass, and all you did was scream." He chuckled again, so I grabbed my pillow and smacked him across the head. "Jerk." I fell onto my other pillow. "Good night."

I felt him brush his fingers through my hair once more and he kissed me on the head. "Night."

My eyes seemed to have weights attached to them, since I fell asleep before Collin could even turn off the light.

--

I woke up to the sound of a deep snore and the sunlight breaking through the blue curtains that hung in front of the window. I stretched my stiff muscles and sat on the edge of the bed, wondering where the snoring was coming from. I got up and followed the sound. The sound led me on the other side of my bed where Collin was laying on the hard wood floor. I wanted to wake him so he could move up to the bed, but he looked to peaceful.

I started to tip toe out of his room, but paused when the snoring stopped.

"Victoria?" Collin said groggily. I turned to see Collin still half asleep. His eyes were droopy and his spiky, dirty blond hair was going in all different directions. A warm, bright smile spread from ear to ear appeared on his face. He looked cute this way. "Morning." He said with a yawn. He took two steps and wrapped me into a tight hug.

"You didn't have to sleep on the floor." He placed his finger under my chin, forcing me to look in his warm hazel eyes. "I wanted to make sure you were safe." I smiled, pecked him on the cheek and skipped my way out of his room.

"Wait--" I stopped in my tracks, causing him to run into me. "What?" he asked dryly. "I forgot a bottle." I panicked. He walked past me and into the kitchen, he didn't seem bothered at all. He opened the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle.

"I got one last night. I forgot to mention it." He shrugged and sat down in a chair at the kitchen table. The house seemed too quiet. "Where is everybody?" I asked.

He listened to the silence himself before answering. "Mike and everybody was called to go and help somebody around one in the morning."

"Oh." I murmured before skipping into the kitchen. "What do you want for breakfast? I'll make you something." He looked like he was about to object so I knew I had to convince him. "Eggs, pancakes, toast." He laughed, but shook his head as well. "I'll take it all. Plus, if it's no trouble, bacon too?"

I grabbed the eggs and searched for the pancakes. "How many pancakes, toast and eggs do you want?" I started to measure the ingredients for the pancakes, while he thought to himself.

"Five eggs, four pancakes, two pieces of toast, and four pieces of bacon." I almost dropped the carton full of eggs after hearing the huge meal he wanted. "Please." He said before walking into the living room and turning on the television. "Gosh, you and your huge appetite." I muttered under my breath.

After setting everything on Collin's plate, I called him into the kitchen.

"Wow, this looks amazing." He said when he eyed the food. He sat across the table from me and immediately dug in. My eyes widened at how big the bites were and how fast he was eating. "Your going to choke." I laughed.

He didn't stop eating till every little piece was off his plate and every drop of orange juice was gone. "Well that food lasted no more than two minutes." I let out a tiny sigh.

I picked up his plate and walked to the sink to clean it, but softly dropped the plate in the sink. "Can I ask you something?" I still had my back to him as I waited for his answer.

He hesitated. "Uh, sure." He replied, unsure of what I was going to ask.

"It's nothing serious. I just feel like we need to get to know each other a little more." I finished washing his dish and turned to see his legs propped up on the table with his head rested on the wall behind him.

"What would you like to know?" I wiped my hands on a nearby paper towel and sat across the table.

"Umm." I really didn't know what to ask him first. I knew I wanted to get to know him better, but I didn't know where to start.

"What's your favorite color." I said quickly. He laughed. "Green."

"Tell me about your life, like your past." I muttered way too fast; I wasn't sure about asking this question. It came out in a jumbled mess, but he seemed to understand.

He sighed and straightened in his seat. "Okay."

He hesitated, picking out his words.

"Me and my parents first lived in Florida. We lived on the beach in a small condo. My mother loved it there, she was out by the beach from morning till nighttime, even if it was raining. My dad never liked the beach, or Florida, but he never told my mom that. He loved her too much. Then my mom got really sick and she couldn't stand the humidity and the heat, so we moved here when I was seven." He paused, distracted by his thoughts.

"We were a _great_ family, we did _everything_ together. But this one night, my parents decided to have a nice dinner out at this fancy restaurant, without me. On their way home, a semi-truck lost control and hit them at high speeds. They were killed instantly." He paused and sighed, still lost in his memories. "My dad was a werewolf since he was ten and his dad also. He was going to change me when I turned ten, but since he died when I was nine, he couldn't do it." Finally he got out of his trance and looked at me. "Sorry I must be boring you." I shook my head and grabbed his hand that was on rested on the table. "No your not, this is what I wanted. I wanted to know more about you." He smiled, but once again, sighed.

"Well remember that old man with the shotgun, and I told you that he was my grandfather?" I lightly laughed, recalling that night, and shook my head. "Well when my parents died, I stayed with him for a year. But towards the end of the year my grandfather started having memory problems. He would wake up and not know who I was and he would kick me out of the house. That's when Mike moved me in with him and when he adopted me. My dad was good friends with Mike's dad, that's how I got to know him. Then when I turned ten, Mike turned me into a werewolf." His tense shoulders relaxed, and we exchanged a smile.

"Now it's your turn." He said. I grumbled, knowing that my life wasn't exactly exciting, but I knew that since he told me about his history, I have to tell him mine.

"My father died before I was born, my mother left me when I was seven, and I went to three different foster homes, and then I was adopted by the Blaine family." He looked at me like I did something wrong, so I just shrugged my shoulders. "What?" I asked; confused.

"That was brief." He said.

"Well my life isn't interesting, and I'm sure Mike or Daniel already told you about my father, since they some how knew about him before I did." He shook his head in agreement. There was an awkward silence before he broke it.

"Tell me about your mother. Not when she was with your father but the time after you were born." My body stiffened, but relaxed again after Collin squeezed my hand and telling me that it would be okay.

"I haven't talked about my mother to anybody." He bent his head and lightly kissed my hand, making my body relax a little bit more. "It's better to talk about it." He informed me.

I debated to myself whether I should tell him anything, but I quickly gave in. "My mother was a fantastic mother. She was a kid at heart and did everything with me. She took me to the park everyday, played with my dolls on the floor, she even let me help cook every meal with her which was always a blast. I didn't know it, but my mother was seeing some guy. When she said she was working late, she was really with this one man. I saw her get dropped off by a guy and she was carrying her uniform. She kissed him goodbye, and when she came up to the apartment, she was in her uniform. I never told her that I saw her through the window that one night." I paused and sighed.

"My mother promised me that it would always be just me and her, and that she would never fall for some guy since she still loved my father even though he was gone. She broke her promise. After that one night, she started to do drugs. The guy that she was with was the one giving her the drugs, and clearly making her do them. Every day after that she would get farther and farther away from me. She wouldn't take me to the park, or cook anything any more, sometimes I wouldn't see her for a whole day and night. Then on my birthday, she came home crying and told me that she was leaving. She left with the same guy I saw dropping her off that first night." I took in a deep breath, making me feel a little better. "I never saw her again."

It felt good that I talked about my mother, but it just brought up more memories and the horrible times. That was when I realized that I haven't had any flashbacks since the first week of living with the Blaine family. It makes me feel... _happy. _I don't want to think about my mother anymore. I don't even want to think about her being my mother. Kelly is my mother now, not _her_. The Blaine family is my family now, not _her._

My thoughts were interrupted by Collin getting out of his chair. "You ready to clean?" He excitedly and jokingly bouncing on his heels as I got out of my chair. "Were going to have tons of fun!" I laughed and pushed him out of the way; heading for the living room to start the _really_ long and boring day.

--

It took us fourteen hours to get everything cleaned up. We finished dusting the last picture, in the last room around eleven.

"You know, if you put things back where they're supposed to be, the house wouldn't end up like that." I suggested. He took his eyes off the road for a second and looked me in the eyes and laughed. "Well you know, if you didn't go to that party, we wouldn't have had to clean the house." He suggested back. I crossed my arms and stared out the window; giving him the silent treatment, even though I knew he was right.

Both Collin and I reeked of cleaning products, which just smelt up his car. Mike wasn't home yet from whatever they were doing today, so Collin decided to take me home. As we pulled down my driveway, something just didn't feel right. We parked behind everyone else's car and he turned off the engine.

"Let me walk you to your door." I grabbed his hand before he grabbed for the door. "You don't have to. You should get home and get some rest."

Even through the darkness I could see his bright, white smile spread from ear to ear. "Well, goodnight then." He kissed me on the lips and rested there for a few seconds, making me melt in my seat. When he released his kiss, he kissed me once more on the forehead.

"Night." I barely muttered before I grabbed the car door handle. I got out the car and closed it gently after giving him one last wave. He didn't start the car back up till I was half way up the driveway, then he started to retrieve back to the main road when I reached the door. I stood there and watched as he drove off past the trees, to where I couldn't see him anymore. I started to reach for my key in my pocket but something caught my attention in the corner of my eye. I paused, and froze as I thought of what or who it could be.

Instead of rushing in the house and closing the door immediately, I walked to the end of the porch and peered around the side of the house. The feeling in my stomach grew, but my curiosity grew even more. I hopped off the porch and walked along the side of the house. When a gust of wind blew in my face, a familiar scent brushed with it. I just couldn't figure out who's scent that was.

My body froze in place as I heard a twig snapping. I wasn't sure if it was far away or near by, but my instincts told me to turn around and run. But before I could, something hard and sharp hit my head, knocking me to the ground. I wanted to turn around but something or someone was putting pressure on my back, causing me to be stuffed in the ground. When I pushed off the ground one last time, the same hard and sharp object hit my head again. This time, knocking me completely unconscious.

* * *

**Hope you liked the chapter. You learned more about Collin and Tori's history and I left you with a cliff hanger. Exciting. Haha. Someone asked me in a message 'which one is better, Vampires or Werewolves?' As you can tell, I like werewolves more, since Tori is falling for a werewolf. Don't hate me but with Twilight, I like Jacob more than Edward. THAT doesn't mean I don't like Edward, hes still up there with Jacob, their almost even. OH, a couple weekends ago I met a guy named Jacob Black. LOL Well this is a long Authors note so I'll quit. I hope EVERYONE reviews. It'll make me really happy. **

**:D**

**Thanks.**


	25. Thomas Sherwood

**Okay, even though I didn't get a lot of reviews, I have decided to update because I'm going out of town for a week for my birthday. (July 31st! Which it's a biggie. Turning 18!) :D But thank you to everyone who reviewed last chapter. I appreciate it. **

**This chapter was easy to write because it was interesting. You will learn a lot. Hehe. :D So I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

My body froze in place as I heard a twig snapping. I wasn't sure if it was far away or near by, but my instincts told me to turn around and run. But before I could, something hard and sharp hit my head, knocking me to the ground. I wanted to turn around but something or someone was putting pressure on my back, causing me to be stuffed in the ground. When I pushed off the ground one last time, the same hard and sharp object hit my head again. This time, knocking me completely unconscious.

--

My eyes widened and I felt a rush of fear flow through me. Nothing but darkness surrounded me, making it even creepier. I closed my eyes and let my ears try to pick up small sounds, anything that would give me a sign on whether I was alone or not. I started to hear small little feet walking along the ground near me and making high pitch squeaking noises.

_Mice. _I thought. I listened more closely and a rhythmic tapping started to creep up on me, closer and closer.

"Hello? Is any one here?" I yelled. I waited for an answer but no one said anything, the tapping just continued. "Hello?" I yelled once again; with a little more panic in my voice.

"Calm down." A deep familiar voice shot through the darkness, making me sit back in my seat a little more.

"Who are you? Where am I?" I asked, panicking even more. A bright light turned on, causing me to quickly close my eyes. I held up my hand to block the bright light, and opened my eyes; revealing the guys black pants.

"I can't believe you haven't recognized my scent yet, or my voice." He teased.

I caught my breath as I figured it out. The scent, his voice. "Caden?" I wondered aloud. I put my hand down after realizing that my eyes were finally used to the bright light, which revealed a calm looking Caden, casually sitting back in his seat.

"Finally." He said while sitting up in his seat, leaning a little too close to me. "I thought you would have figured it out a long time ago."

I had so many questions I had to ask him, which I was afraid to even open my mouth because I didn't want all the questions to rush out in one jumbled mess. So I took a deep breath to calm myself and to collect my thoughts, which seemed to make me more content. "What do you want, and where am I?" I asked, while letting out a big breath.

He held his hands up, telling me to calm down. "I know you have a lot of questions, so I'll just answer everything right now." He took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair.

"You are in a small, old cabin out in the woods near your house. You have only been knocked out for ten minutes, and I was supposed to bring you here to kill you, but I have changed my mind." He smiled, like telling me that he was supposed to kill me was no big deal. It was to me!

"What do you mean you were supposed to kill me, but you have _changed_ your mind?" Rage was flowing through my body, I wanted to jump up and scream in his face.

He chuckled a little bit and pointed to the side where a pile of different weapons rested. "Well, the reason why I haven't killed you yet is because I know the real you and your history, which my father does not." Everything that he was telling me, seemed to go in one ear and out the other. It didn't tell me anything.

"I still don't get it." I admitted. He ran his hands through his dark brown, side swipe hair and sighed. "Since I decided not to kill you, I didn't want you to just go inside your house and for me to forget everything, I thought I could bring you here and you could learn more about me."

I leaned back in my seat and crossed my arms. "I'm not what you think I am." He said, sounding dangerous. I wanted to sit up and look interested but I remained looking uninterested and upset. "Okay. Go ahead." I stated, sounding bored.

He got up from his seat and started pacing around the cabin. "I'm sorry, I don't know how to begin." He paused in his tracks and turned towards me.

"Victoria. I'm a vampire too. Well not a 'full' vampire but I'm not half either." He waited for a reaction or maybe for me to run out of the cabin, but I was too dumb-struck.

"Wh-what?" I stammered.

He shook his head before continuing. "Yeah. I have been a vampire for a hundred years so far." He said sounding enthusiastic. "S-s-so you have been alive for a hundred and seventeen years?" I asked still trying to recover from what he has just told me.

He shook his head and stared off into the distance; distracted. "Me and my family were walking home one night, from a party and we were attacked by a gang of vampires. There were four vampires in the gang. One for each of us. The one that had me, bit down on my neck and started to drink my blood. Which I knew the others were doing the same. I wanted so badly to push the vampire off of me and save my family, but they were too strong to fight off and were too fast to run from." He paused and sighed, looking frustrated, like he wasn't happy the fact that he couldn't do anything about it.

"Something scared them away, leaving us to just die on the pavement. But the one that bit me and my father didn't get very far into the whole drinking of our blood thing so we were able to get up to check on my brother and mother. They weren't doing too good. So we took them home, and my father called a special doctor that knows about stuff like this, but when he got to our house, my mother and brother stopped breathing. He told us some horrible news." He closed his eyes and shivered.

"He told us that my mother was gone for good. That the vampire just 'sucked her dry'. But as for my brother, the doctor told us that the vampire left some blood in his body and the vampires venom mixed, causing him to become a vampire himself." He finally finished and got out of his daze and looked at me, which I had a lot of questions.

"Well how are you not a full vampire?" I asked.

He shrugged his shoulders. "The vampires that bit me and my father didn't drink to the point of us becoming full vampires, and not half either. We are not full vampires or half vampires because we still have the strength and speed and cravings as full vampires but everyday it's different. One day we might have just strength, no speed and no cravings, or the opposite. Me and my father didn't get the traits of having black or ruby colored eyes, or not being able to walk in the sun, but that was just pure luck that we didn't get that trait." He sat back in his chair, sitting casually once again.

"A couple weeks later, my dad found a great organization that helps people like us. Me and my father joined it, but my brother didn't want anything to do with it. He wanted to live like a normal vampire. Like, drink human blood, 'claim humans', which this organization didn't allow that. They lived by the 'Thomas Sherwood Code'."

That hit me like a ton of bricks. "That's my father's name." I whispered to myself, but he heard it.

"Yeah, that's your father. The 'Thomas Sherwood Code' was created after your father died. It is something that vampires can live by, but you have to follow it in order to be in the organization. Which you can only drink animal's blood, can't 'claim humans', can't kill any human, and there's something else but I can't remember. Most of the vampires thats apart of this organization are vampire hunters, like me and my father. We go out and kill new vampires which are always out of control in the beginning, and we kill the vampires that go around changing humans, or killing them for fun."

"How did you know about my father?" I was whispering; still in disbelief.

"Well my father told me that I was supposed to kill a new vampire that lived in the area, which I found out was you. So last night I followed you and you ended up staying at your werewolf boyfriends house. While you guys were cleaning today, I eavesdropped and heard you talking about your father and saw how in control you were with your eating habits and abilities, that I realized you should live." He stopped and smiled.

I shook my head and closed my eyes while running a hand through my hair. _This is too much_. I thought. I figured that Caden could read my thoughts; but I didn't care.

That's when it hit me. The incident that happened last night when I thought someone was outside Collin's window. My head snapped up, and my expression changed from confusion to a glare.

"Were you outside Collin's window last night?" I asked, almost growling.

He scooted more back into his chair; looking uncomfortable. "Uh, yeah. Until you screamed." He laughed, but stopped when I got up from the seat.

"I can't take this anymore. I need to get home before I get into trouble." I reached for the door knob but Caden appeared in front of it in less than a second. "You can't leave. I'm not done yet." He was almost begging.

I crossed my arms, showing that I wasn't going to give in. "Please sit back down. I haven't told you the most important part." He pleaded once again. We stood staring at each other for a little bit before I rolled my eyes and headed back to the seat I was sitting in.

"What now? Are you part werewolf too? Maybe you turn into a dragon or something?" I teased. He laughed as he sat down.

"No, I wish I could turn into a dragon." He laughed even more before turning serious.

"Please don't freak out, or run away until you tell me how you feel about it. Okay?" He asked. I shook my head, feeling a little bit worried.

He dug into his pocket and grabbed what he needed and held it in his closed fist. He took a deep breath and held it out to me."I found it in Collin's room. Your scent, along with his was very strong, so I knew it was yours and that he had claimed you." He gently said, almost whispering.

I caught my breath when he revealed the ruby ring Aidan had given me when he claimed me. The memory of Alaric and I waiting for Aidan to return popped in my head, when he told me about this ring.

"_Every vampire gives their human that they change, something. In which this case, he gave you a ring. That ring there, is a one of a kind. The stone is made up of Aidan's scent, which you can not smell because you are a young vampire and not all of your abilities have kicked in yet. But when other vampires smell two scents mixed together, they will know that you have been claimed. They will especially know Aidan's scent."_

"When you and Collin left to get more cleaning supplies, I went into the house and found the ring in his room."

I knew he was talking but I was still in shocked about the fact that he even knew about Aidan. But then it hit me. The memory of Caden and I when we were at the party and talking on the bridge popped in my head.

"_Aidan." I quickly sputtered out. I waited for a 'no', maybe a laugh, heck, maybe even a 'yes, maybe he actually knew an Aidan; but he just sat there, not saying a word. I could feel the awkwardness flowing in the now existing wind, making me wish I was back at the party, or even better... at home. _

_But he finally shifted so he was leaning against the handrail of the bridge. "Yeah, I do know an Aidan." My head snapped in his direction and my expression was shocked. Not because he knew an Aidan but because of the way he said it. He said it slowly and unsure, it sounded almost as if he was scared like me of a guy named Aidan. _

"You know Aidan?" I choked out; still in shock. There was a long awkward pause and an unbearable silence, but when he finally spoke, relief washed over me.

"I do." He shifted in his seat, looking uncomfortable. "He's--" He took in several deep breaths and ran his hand through his dark hair, revealing his pretty green eyes. "He's my brother." He closed his eyes, like he was afraid that I would do something to him. But I was frozen in my seat. My mouth was open in shock and I stopped my breathing. A million things were rushing through my mind: memories, possibilities, my mother, Daniel, Collin, what happened last night.

"He's my brother that wanted to live the vampire life. He's my _twin _brother." That's when everything came together. The reason why Caden looked so familiar the first day I met him, hes just a little bit muscular and taller than Aidan and not pale white.

"I-" I shook my head in disbelief. "I ha- have to go." I stammered while getting up. He grabbed my hand making me stand in place. "Please don't go." He begged. I turned to him. A hissing noise erupted in my chest, but I didn't mean to do it, my body seemed to have done it on it's own. "I need to go. They will be worried if I'm not home soon."

He let go of my hand and I started to walk quickly to the door. As I walked out into the cool breeze, the hissing stopped and I felt a little bit calmer. Before I took a step into the forest, Caden yelled from the cabin. "Don't forget, you could be dead by now!" I sighed before running at vampire speed into the bright, moon lit forest; heading to the place I love the most. Home.

_I need you Collin. I need you._

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**Well you learned a lot about Caden in this chapter!! Some interesting stuff. I really hope alot of people review. Maybe review as a birthday gift! :D I really want to know what people think of this story, because this story is coming to an end pretty soon, and I'm debating with myself on whether I should have a sequel or not. **

**So thanks for reading, and please review!**

**:D**


	26. Secrets

**...I know. I have my excuses okay? At the beginning of August, I got caught up with the olympics hehe great excuse right? lol and school started. Then hurricane Fay came through and sat on top of where I live for a couple of days and my internet went out. THEN I didn't know they would, but my teachers started to pound me with homework. and then I started my job again, so my weekends were gone. But my main excuse, and I'll admit, is that I was lazy. This chapter isn't my favorite. There isn't enough action. But It's still a pretty important chapter so yeah. I'll stop writing so you can read.**

**Thank you to everyone who is sticking this out with me and is continuing to read my story. I really appreciate it. **

**Enjoy.**

**:D**

* * *

When I got home last night, I didn't want to do anything but get to my room and crash on my bed. None of the werewolves were home yet so I had nothing to worry about, no questions on why I was so rushed and disoriented. I laid in my bed, recalling the past few months of being here with the Blaine family. I have learned so much, _gone_ through so much that I felt like I was ageing a year every second. But the thing was, I _wasn't_. I wasn't ageing at all.

That made me even more upset, which finally, my body cooperated with me and I fell asleep early last night.

"Mrs. Blaine." I heard the teacher's voice but I didn't feel like reacting to it like I normally would. "Mrs. Blaine, would you care to join us?" she said calmly; holding back her irritation. I felt someone nudge my shoulder, trying to get me to say something, but I still was in a heavy daze.

_**Tori, I know you're awake! Will you say something? **_Collin's familiar voice rang in my head, he was getting upset.

So I snapped out of it, acting as if I didn't hear her. "Sorry Mrs. Hoogley, I didn't get enough sleep last night." I muttered, acting as if I was really sleepy, when I really wasn't.

She gave me this side glare, which told me that if I responded a second later she would have made me stay after class. But luckily, she went back to her boring lecture.

_**What's your problem today? Did something happen that I need to know about?**_ His voice was calm and soothing, taking my mind off of certain things I didn't want to think about.

_I'm fine. Relax._

The bell rang and everyone rose from their seats. I slowly but surely, did what everyone else was doing. I walked out the door before Mrs. Hoogley could stop to talk to me, and greeted Collin as he waited for me.

"You're not fine, I can feel that you're tense in your thoughts. And you're distracted with something… I want to know." He reached up and placed a piece of hair that was in my face, behind my ear and held his warm hand against my face. He was waiting for me to mention what was bothering me.

I looked into his hazel eyes and smiled. I was happy that he was in my life.

"Nothing. Really." I smiled but I could tell he was still upset. His hand fell from my face and grabbed onto my hand pulling me to our English class which was in the next hallway.

As was walked out of the hallway, John and Chris walked in the hallway, giving a side glance but quickly looked away.

"People are going to never forget that party that John. They were so embarrassed because everyone who went to his party, his parents made him and Chris go to their house and apologize to their parents. 

They are going to be embarrassed for life." He laughed his deep laugh as we walked into our next class. Luckily our seats were together for this class like last period.

When the late bell rang, Mrs. Campbell quickly started on a lecture about a certain book that we were going to be reading soon. So I zoned out quickly; thinking about Caden.

I began to wonder if he was going to be in school today. I was really hoping he wasn't in school, it would be too awkward.

"Ms. Blaine, you have something in the office that you need to go and pick up." Mrs. Campbell muttered.

I paused for a moment, thinking about what would be in the office that I would need to pick up, but quickly got out of my seat after noticing that everyone was staring at me; waiting.

I walked out into the quiet hallway and headed towards the office. I haven't been in the office since the first day of school, when I was with Collin.

I followed the signs that said 'Office'; finally making it. I paused, holding onto the door handle. I was nervous.

I walked down the long quiet hallway, which just made everything worse.

A fuzzy sound of Collin's voice popped in my head. _**You okay?**_ I had to stop in my tracks.

_How can you send thoughts to my head? I thought I had to be close to you? _I waited. Nothing happened.

I made it to the front desk; Mrs. Lance was talking on the phone but smiled when she saw me.

"Yes ma'am, he is available tomorrow afternoon. Okay, have a great day." She hung up the phone and held up one finger telling me to wait. She went under her desk and pulled out a beautiful red rose with a note attached to it.

I gently grabbed it, being careful of the thorns that stuck out slightly.

"Who- who brought this?" I asked, dumbfounded. I looked at the note attached to the rose while she shrugged her shoulders; she was waiting for me to the read the note.

As the note shook in my hands, I read it slowly in my head.

_-Don't worry, you will see me soon enough. I'm here for you and I'm always watching. Don't let anyone know. Love you, __**forever**__ and always._

That's it. It didn't say who it was from, where it came from; nothing.

I looked up and Mrs. Lance went back to her computer, typing away. I paused but looked at my watch, which told me that I had five minutes to get back to class. I started down the hallway, walking a really fast pace.



I knew who this note was from; I just didn't want to say his name or even think it. As I walked through the doors of the front office, leading into the school, I glanced around me quickly and everywhere. Now I was becoming paranoid. The words 'you will see me soon enough', and 'I'm always watching' was repeating over and over in my head.

_This can't be happening. He's back from Italy now and I didn't tell my family about Alaric's letter telling us to move. Now I put everyone in danger. My family, the werewolves, and… Collin. _My pace quickened even more, thinking about Collin being all alone. I knew that he was safe, with his size he could kick anybody's butt, but I wasn't too sure about a hundred and seventeen year old vampire's butt.

When I reached the hallway, the bell rang and a rush of students came out of the classrooms, pushing me in the hall. I tried pushing back, but it didn't work, I didn't have any more strength then when I was a human. I felt a large hand grab my arm from behind me, and I knew that if I was still human, I would have felt my blood rush to my feet.

I strained my neck to see Collin pulling me through the crowd with a smile on his tan face, causing me to relax.

_**Don't worry, I got you.**_ I smiled.

When we pulled out into the main hallway, we hugged the wall; trying to avoid the flood of people.

"What is that?" He looked down towards the rose, pointing to it. I really wanted to throw it out before Collin saw it, but I was too worked up.

"Nothing, a friend gave it to me." I muttered just too quickly; obvious that I was lying. His dark eyebrows went downward, covering his hazel eyes.

"Do I need to pound someone's head?" He asked while pounding his fist in the palm of his other hand. I shook my head quickly. "No, just someone who likes me, no big deal." I shrugged it off and started to walk towards our next class, but he had another idea. He grabbed my arm, pulling me back to him.

"I want to know who it is." He tried reaching for the rose, but I noticed that I was holding it over the trash can and so I dropped it into it.

"What the heck? Why won't you let me see who it is?" He asked in disbelief.

I didn't want him to see it because that information would go straight to the werewolves, then I wouldn't be going to this school anymore, I probably wouldn't be able to step foot out of the house, and me and Collin wouldn't be able to see each other anymore. So that's why I don't want it getting into his hands.

"Are you seeing someone else?" He voice choked up at the last word and my jaw fell open. "Oh my god no, I'm defiantly not." My voice seemed to raise at the end of that sentence. "I can't believe you think that." I whispered.



"Well I'm not sure what to think, after I saw you last night running from the woods." His nose scrunched up, as if he smelled something bad. "You smelt like _bad_ cologne."

I shook my head, trying to understand. _Didn't you leave last night?_ I thought.

He shook his head but shrugged.

"Sort of. I pulled out of the driveway but I saw you go on the side of your house, so I wanted to wait till you were inside safely. Then you came running out of the woods and in your house, so I went to check out what you saw and I smelt you and some _nasty_ cologne." His nose scrunched up again.

"Well it was nothing. I smelt the same thing and went to check it out and followed it into the woods. Then I got scared and ran out. That's it." He still had a hold of my arm so I pulled him to our next class, which we were going to be late. He didn't budge, so I turned swiftly on my heels and looked him straight in the eyes, which sort of startled him.

"Collin," A small sigh escaped my lips. "_Trust me." _I said breathlessly. I used his famous line, which caught him off guard.

His eyes closed for a small period of time and opened, followed by a smile. "I trust you." He then bent down and our lips met. He kissed me, and I kissed back. Our lips never wanted to be separated, and if the bell didn't ring loudly in our ears, telling us that we were late, we would have never unlocked our lips. Unfortunately, these wonderful moments seem to always happen at the wrong times.

My eyes were closed when my arm was being tugged, so I let him pull me. I didn't want to go to the next class. I wanted to run away with Collin, and leave _Aidan_ behind. Leaving him in the _past. _

The class before lunch went by slow, as usual, and lunch was the same. Collin got a lot of food and ate all of it, and the typical werewolves were seated at our lunch table me and Collin sat at. Our fingers were intertwined with each others as we walked to zoology. I was starting to feel a little nervous. Caden was in that class, well hopefully he was absent; it would make life easier right now.

Collin opened the door to zoology, pulling me inside. I took a deep breath and opened my closed eyes as I walked into the class.

He was sitting in the seat right beside where I sat usually, and smiling crookedly directly at me.

_Is he making a joke out of all this?_ I thought to myself. I knew Collin couldn't hear the thoughts that I directed to myself, so maybe Caden couldn't either.

I walked past Collin as he sat in his seat behind me, and tried not to look Caden directly in the eyes.

__

_**Don't try to ignore me. It's too hard to do.**_ Caden's voice popped in my head. It startled me because Collin is usually the only one _always_ in my head. I was afraid to think anything 'out loud' because of Collin hearing it. So I looked at Caden and gave him the biggest fake smile anyone could make.

The teacher quickly began telling us what the plans for class were today, which was a National Geographic movie about dangerous animals. _Great, this will give Caden a chance to talk to me._ I thought to myself.

The teacher turned the movie on and sat at his desk in the far corner of the room. That's when in the corner of my eye, Caden waved a folded up piece of paper at me. I still kept my focus on the television, trying to ignore him. But he didn't care; he tossed the paper so it landed on my desk. I flashed him an evil glare, and he smiled and turned his attention to the movie.

I really just wanted to crumple it up and toss it back into his face, but my curiosity got the best of me. I opened the paper quietly, so I wouldn't get caught.

_**Aww, cute. He has a crush on you.**_ Collin said, jokingly. I sighed, and read what the note said:

_-I don't see why you're ignoring me. I know it was wrong for me to knock you out, plus bombard you with a ton of information. But I just didn't want you to freak out and never talk to me again before I could get my story out. _

It was more than that. It was not only because I was knocked out or bombarded by information but it was the whole fact that the person I'm _afraid_ of, the person that_ took_ my normal life away is his _twin_ brother.

_-Okay, well I guess I shouldn't be this mean and ignore you. I just don't want Collin to find out about all this stuff. At least, not yet. Anyways, you were supposed to kill me, remember? _

I folded up the piece of paper and tossed it back over. _**Okay, doesn't this kid know you're taken? **_There was as small pause but I could tell he wasn't done. _**Taken by me? You better tell him to be careful.**_ A small growl—only loud enough for me, and well also Caden to hear—erupted from Collin's chest. I rolled my eyes.

_Chill out. _I thought, while another growl erupted. Caden tossed the note again, while focusing once again on the movie.

_-Well yes, I was supposed to kill you. But guess what? You're alive! –Well, sort of—but anyways, I told my dad about the whole situation, and he's a little freaked that you were claimed by his son that he hasn't heard from… in __**forever**__. But he said that if there is anything that we can help with, just give us a call._

I wasn't sure if I should tell Caden about my 'gift' from Aidan, or my letter from Alaric. But when I really thought it through, Caden would be the most helpful.

_-Would you want to meet at the cabin after school today? I need to show you something. _



I tossed the paper back over and saw him in the corner of my eye shake his head; in agreement.

As we finished watching the movie, Collin repeatedly growled every time Caden glanced at me. So I had a war going on in my head.

_**Dude, your boyfriend is going to rip my head off.**_ Caden.

_**If he looks at me wrong again, I'm going to hurt him.**_ Collin.

_**Does he have a life?**_ I laughed at that one, because I really don't think he does. They can't hear each other's thoughts because they are directed only to me. Thank _goodness_, or there would be a fight going on, but it wouldn't be a normal fight that people have seen before. It would be an all out live or die fight.

Defiantly wouldn't be a good thing.

Immediately when the bell rang, I grabbed Collin and as I passed Caden, I squeezed his arm and winked.

_**See you later.**_ He replied in my head before Collin pulled me away.

I stared out the window of Collins Ford F150 truck. He doesn't drive his Ferrari because he thinks it's too fancy for school. Who would have known a Ferrari was too 'fancy' for school.

"You seem awfully quiet." I turned to look at him and he did the same, but I couldn't hold our gaze for long. I don't like keeping secrets from him.

"Sorry. I'm just tired." He reached over and lightly held my chin and moved it so I was looking at him.

"I heard you had brown eyes." He would look at the road but quickly stare back into my eyes. "I bet they were beautiful." I closed my eyes briefly and smiled a crooked smile as he continued.

"Cause your eyes are extremely gorgeous now. " I smiled but rolled my eyes and focused back to the green trees flashing by at amazing speeds, which shortly after, they slowed and we were turning down my drive way.

The hand he was holding, he squeezed and he parked the car. I waited. I wanted to clue him in with _everything_ but I just knew it wasn't the right time, and that _everything _would slip out to the other werewolves, to _Daniel_ and _Kyle._

"Well, I'll call you later tonight. Thanks for the ride." I kissed him on the lips and he kissed back. I knew he could feel the tension as we kissed because he quickly released with a confused but worried expression on his face. "Is everything okay? Do you want me to come in with you?"

I caught my breath. "No, everything is fine." I said a little bit too quickly. I took an unnecessary deep breath, and collected my thoughts. "I'm okay, just worried about the big test tomorrow." I muttered while getting out of the car.I smiled and in return he gave a shaky smile as well. _Bye._ I thought as I closed the door.

Collin's truck didn't roar to life till I was on the porch, ready to open the door. _He's really suspicious._ I thought to myself.

When I walked in, the smell of cinnamon buns hit me like a ton of bricks. The smell was horrible, but I thought back into my memory and realized that I used to love that smell and taste when my mother made them.

I stared running up the stairs as I yelled, "I'm home!" I heard somebody mutter something in the kitchen, sounded like Kelly, but I just kept walking to my bedroom. When I ran in my room I immediately pulled up the mattress and grabbed the smoothed out letter that rested on the wood frame.

I opened it and started to read it once again.

_Dear Victoria,_

_I am writing this letter to inform you that I was here earlier. I can't write much, for Aidan would be suspicious on why I was here for so long. Aidan sent me to check to see if your brothers brought you back here, and if they did he wanted me to bring you back with me. So I am going back to him and telling him that you and your family have moved. Going back to Aidan without you will be hard, he definitely will not be happy. Please do not wonder why I am doing this. Victoria you may not want to hear this, but he misses you terribly and he is determined to get you back no matter what it takes, even if it takes to kill your whole family to get you back. I did not wish to be the one to write this to you, but I had to. _

_Aidan and I will be going to Italy with or without you, to finish some "un-finished business", but we will head back here to find you. So that will give you and your family enough time to move far away. Please do not live life thinking you are free from Aidan. He will find you eventually, I am sorry you have been stuck in this situation, but I do not believe someone who has a great life now, such as yourself, should live such a horrible life, such as with Aidan. _

_Please listen to the letter, and once again, I am truly sorry._

_Sincerely,_

_Alaric_

Chills rand up my spine as I folded it back up and stuffed it in my back pocket and raced out the door again. I didn't want Caden to be waiting long so I race down the stairs, while screaming "I'll be back soon, I'm studying with friends!" I quickly heard Kelly in the kitchen approve of me studying; as I rushed out the door.

I then started at a vampire pace, running off the porch and into the woods. I started dodging trees and practically floating over the logs that rested on the ground, while pushing sticks out of my way. I even was able to miss some spider webs which I wasn't able to do that when I was human.



Before I knew it, I was at the cabins doorstep. Taking one step at a time, I opened the door slowly and it creaked loudly; echoing in the cabin.

"Caden?" I walked in a little further and jumped as the door swung shut on me with a loud thump. "You in here?" I finished.

A hand reached around my head and covered my mouth while another one grabbed my wrist and twisted it behind my back.

"You aren't a very smart vampire, you know that?" Caden's deep voice whispered in my ear. "You didn't even notice I was here." He let go of me and I turned around with a horrid look on my face.

"Did we meet up so you could make fun of me? Or are we here to talk about your piece of crap brother?" I said in disgust.

He hung his head in shame. "Well, do you have what you wanted to show me?"I grabbed the note from my back pocket and handed it over to him, which he began to read.

"That was left a few days after the werewolves rescued me. It was in my bedroom, and it's from Alar—"

"Alaric, I know. Aidan had been with Alaric for the longest time. Probably for 99 of the 100 years of Aidan's vampire life. I thought he was dead." He finished the last part with sadness in his voice, which he started to read aloud.

"_Aidan and I will be going to Italy with or without you, to finish some "un-finished business", but we will head back here to find you. So that will give you and your family enough time to move far away. Please do not live life thinking you are free from Aidan." _He paused and looked back up to me.

"Why didn't you tell Daniel or your family about this?" His voice started to rise. "You are putting your family's life in jeopardy. Aidan will get what he wants, even if it means killing your family and friends to get to you."

I sighed. "I know. It's just that I have already made my family go through so much; I don't want to make them move because of me. And I think that maybe the werewolves would be able to protect me if he were to come." When I finished, I started to hear some rustling outside, but I just figured it was the storm that was supposed to be coming right about now.

He folded the note and stuffed it in his back pocket. "You need to tell me everything. If you're not going to tell your family, then I guess I'll have to help you for now. But pretty soon you're going to have to tell them." I sighed but nodded in agreement.

"I got a rose today. I threw it away because I didn't want Collin to see it. But it was from him. He said that he is always watching me, and that I will see him soon." I closed my eyes and a picture of Aidan in the cave when I first met him, popped in my head. I quickly opened my eyes. "Caden, he's back from Italy." My voice was shaky, and I know Caden could see how terrified I was by the look on my face.

He didn't look as worried as I thought he would. He actually looked pretty calm; making me sort of irritated.

"Since you don't want to tell your family, and since it's only Aidan and Alaric, I'm going to tell my friends who are vampire hunters, about him. We will take turns patrolling around your house." I perked up a little, feeling happy that I didn't have to tell my family that they needed to move. –"**But**, if things get out of hand you're going to have to tell Daniel and your parents." I nodded in excitement and quickly hugged him.

"Thank you so much!" I hugged him again. "I owe you big." When I let go, the rustling outside seemed to get louder, but then quickly disappeared.

I looked outside and it seemed to be getting darker, so I knew I had to get home. "Well I got to go. I kind of rushed out the door without explaining where I was going, so I'll see you at school." I muttered while walking out the door.

"Tori, wait." I turned when I reached the outside and he was still inside. "I just wanted to let you know, that I'm sorry for what my brother did to you. If I knew he was planning to claim you, I would have stopped him. But since it's too late, I will defiantly make sure he doesn't get a hold of you again." He smiled, making me smile in return. I felt better when I was around him. Not like in love kind of feeling but, best friend or brother type of feeling. It made me feel good that I didn't have to keep all of this stuff to myself and that I'm able to share it with him.

"Well I appreciate it. Thank you." I smiled and swiftly turned on my heels and started to run into the woods.

As I was running, a loud piercing howl rang through the woods. It was a painful type of howl, not a physical pain howl, but an emotional pain, and it sounded so familiar.

_Collin. _So I started to fun faster.

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**I hope you liked this chapter. **

**So I have the next chapters events all in my head. It's just the putting it together and typying it on the computer that I have problems with. I need to fix my  
"lazyness." Well I hope alot of people review. Who knows maybe it'll inspire me to write faster. ; **

**Thanks again to everyone who is still reading my story and reviewing!**

**:D**


	27. No tears

**Yeah... I updated. :D**

**I actually wrote 90 percent of this chapter in like two hours. I wanted to update, even though I should be in bed, ah well. But I wanted to update because alot of you reviewed. So it inspired me to write and update faster. 'hint hint' HA.**

**Well I this chapter has alot of interesting stuff, so**

**Enjoy.**

**:D**

* * *

I couldn't find Collin anywhere.

His scent was going in three different directions so I couldn't follow him. _Was he outside the cabin when me and Caden were talking?_ I thought to myself. _Collin gets jealous badly, but not that bad._

It was almost completely dark, making it a lot harder to find my way home, but I followed my scent back to the house. I could hear Daniel and Kyle's booming laugh from inside the house as I jumped up and over the railing of the porch. I opened the front door and they both were standing in front of the stair way blocking Andrew, their little brother, from getting down the stairs.

"Come on guys, leave me be." He begged before making a pouting face. I walked up to the back of Kyle and Daniel and smacked them across the head.

"Why do you guys have to torment him?" They both moved aside and let Andrew pass, which he went straight for the kitchen. I didn't say anything more to the both of them, I wasn't in the mood to talk.

"Collin said that you need to ride the bus tomorrow," I stopped in my tracks. "Well actually he said to get a ride from us, but we don't want you to miss out on riding the cheese wagon." Kyle said with a smirk planted on his face.

I ignored that look. "Did he tell you why?" I wondered, but Daniel shook his head 'no', so I started walking up the stairs again as they went into the living room, discussing a football game.

_Collin can't really be upset. Could he?_ I flipped the switch when I opened my door, which revealed a messy room. I dragged my feet to my bed, and roughly sat on the edge of it; wondering about Collin.

Then something caught my eye. I got up and walked to my desk; holding my breath. A neatly folded letter was placed on top of a few homework papers I had left there a few days ago. I picked it up and examined it, and turned it over which revealed in neatly cursive letters: _Victoria Marie Sherwood. _My arms with the letter fell to my side, and I caught an unnecessary breath.

"I haven't heard my name said with my dad's last name since the day I met my social worker." I whispered aloud.

My hands started to shake as I flipped the folded paper around and opened the side with a fancy pressed gold seal. When I got it open, I slowly started to read quietly aloud.

_Dear Victoria,_

_I hope you liked the rose I sent to you today. It's almost the color that matches your gorgeous eyes and your ring. Speaking of ring, _My body tensed and I looked down at my ring-missing finger, so I took a deep breath._ I found it in your mother's jewelry box on your dresser. What is that about? That ring is very important and I gave that to you after I claimed you. You should be wearing it. So since you're not wearing it, I'll wait till we see each other again to give it to you. _

_I'm sure you're wondering when we will meet again. But you don't have to wonder anymore because we will be seeing each other __**very**__ soon. I have finished my business in Italy, but I have some unfinished business here that I need to take care of before we meet again. When we do meet again, our lives will finally be able to start, which I have a great idea of how we can spend the rest of our lives together. I must go now, you will be getting home from school in a couple of hours and I don't want my scent around your room. Plus, your little sister, Abigail I think it is, smells pretty good, so I must leave before something terrible happens. _

_Love you __**forever**__ and always,_

_Aidan_

My body tensed and I almost wanted to scream from the thought of Aidan hurting Abigail. She is so innocent and fragile, and he is so violent and cruel I couldn't imagine what he would do to her. I crumpled up the paper and threw it in my closet, not wanting to see it ever again. But I knew I would have to show Caden. So I picked it up and stuffed it in my messenger bag to give to Caden tomorrow.

I was starting to become mentally exhausted, which I was happy that it was night time and was time to go to bed; I needed my mind to rest. So I changed into a pair of sweat pants and one of Collin's old middle school t-shirts --that he couldn't fit into anymore, but I could—and slipped into bed.

I turned off the bed side lamp and wrapped the covers over me tightly. I was slightly afraid of the darkness, even though I had super hearing, the thoughts of me not hearing a well trained vampire coming in my room seemed pretty realistic; so it caused me to freak out.

But in seconds, my mind finally got enough of everything, and let the darkness take over my thoughts.

--

Waiting for the bus, sucked. Bugs started to bother me, constantly flying around me, and the sun was starting to get pretty hot. Luckily the bus came, but the loneliness started to begin as I sat by myself, with no one else on the bus. When I got to school even with all the people around, it was still pretty lonely without him.

I walked to my first period with my head hung low, but occasionally waving to people I usually see in my classes. When I walked into class, I didn't even look up to see if he was there, but I quickly picked out his deep voice over all the others. With my head still hanging low I sat in my seat and rested my head in my hands that rested upon the desk.

Class began and he still hasn't said anything to me. _Why are you not talking to me?_ I thought directed to him. But nothing happened, exactly what I expected.

--

He wasn't even there for lunch. I sat there with all the other werewolves, which didn't help me at all. Thanks to Collin keeping his thoughts and emotions to himself, they didn't even know what was wrong with him.

"Well thanks anyways. I'll try and talk with him after school today." I lied before walking to fourth period, which I was looking forward to talking with Caden.

Walking into fourth, I held my head high. I don't want Collin to think I'm a weak person and that I'm upset. I focused my glare right towards Collin, who didn't break his conversation with the girl Katie, which is the one I ran into my first day of school.

I sat in my seat and Caden's eyes widened and shook his head.

_You know what's going on._ I thought.

He shook his head, while pretending to listen to Mr. Stafford. _**Your boyfriend doesn't keep his thoughts to himself very well when he's upset or stressed. So I heard everything. **_He thought back.

I sighed. _What was he thinking? I'm lost in the dark. _I saw his eyes roll.

_**Well I'm number two on his death list, and he's extremely upset with you because you lied to him.**_

I caught my breath. _Am I number one on his death list? _I thought slowly. He didn't answer right away so I looked over at him, and he chuckled.

_**Yeah, your way up there on his death list. He followed you to the cabin yesterday. **_

I closed my eyes. _Of course he did._ I thought more to myself, but I knew heard my thought.

I didn't open my eyes, and Mr. Stafford didn't seem to mind because he didn't call on me or slap a book on my desk to wake me up. I could only guess that I looked stressed and upset, so he's leaving me alone.

_**You need to tell him Tori. **_Caden's voice made my eyes pop open; waking me up.

I looked up at him as the bell rang, so I grabbed my bag and started to walk out the door, Collin already gone.

_I know. I will after school. _I lied again.



The next two classes were the same. We both didn't talk or even exchange a thought to each other. He also raced out the door when school let out. Giving me no chance to talk to him, so I raced—human speed—to the parking lot to meet him at his car.

When the last car left the parking lot, I started to become concerned. _Did he run home because he saw me by his car? _I wondered to myself. _He can't be that mad… Couldn't he?_ I questioned myself.

_Maybe I'll go look for him._ I bounced off his car and headed into the school again. I looked in our locker hallway, nothing. I walked to our last class, maybe I thought he left but he didn't. I walked up to the open door and my arms released my messenger bag strap, and fell to my side. My breath also stopped in a loud raspy gasp.

"Collin." I whispered only loud enough for him to hear from across the room. He paused the kiss he was receiving and his eyes got wide. He pushed the girl he was talking to earlier, Katie, off of him so hard that she landed a few feet from him.

"Victoria." He whispered as he was still facing away from me. "It's not what you think. I didn't—"His voice broke off in mid-sentence. But I didn't wait till he finished. I ran as fast as I could out of the hallway, and out of the school parking lot; running home.

The buses were gone, and thinking about getting a ride from Collin just made the long run home easier to go through mentally. I knew he wasn't following me on foot, but I could hear the roar of his truck as he rode near me on the nearby road.

When I made it to the edge of our yard, I ran and jumped over the railing as quickly as possible. I opened and closed the door without looking in my driveway to see if Collin was parked there. But when I locked the door I went and looked out the family room window, which revealed Collin's navy blue truck parked by the edge of the road.

Rage and confusion hit me like a ton of bricks and started to boil inside of me.

"How could he do this to me?" I asked myself aloud. I ran up the stairs in vampire speed and barged in my room.

"Who cares if he saw me hug Caden last night. What he did after school is so much worse!" I yelled to nobody. I paced the room back and forth, from door to the window-door. I stopped in my tracks as the picture of Collin lip locking with a blond witch, and actually looking like he was enjoying it.

My legs collapsed and I sat on the soft carpet; not having any energy to get myself back up. A feeling I haven't felt in a while rose from the darkness, making me want to cry.

But I knew I couldn't cry. It was only a _human_ thing to do, which is something I'm not anymore.

All my human memories came to me as a blur. Me with my mother playing in the park, or me and my best friend who I could trust sharing a chocolate cookie we got for being good. Also a picture my mother took of my father in a park and few weeks before I was born.

I wanted so badly to just let it all out and cry. But I knew no matter how hard I try, tears would never come. They will never come and release this pain that is boiling and tearing me apart inside.

I got up from where I was sitting and dumped all my school stuff out of my messenger bag, and replaced it with extra clothes.

When I was done with that, I sat it down on my bed and headed towards my desk, and looked for a pen and paper.

I found what I was looking for and started to write.

_Dear… everybody, _I noticed that I was pushing the pen a little too hard against the paper, which it made dents in my desk.

_I have left so I could calm myself down and so I can think about certain things. So please, don't worry about me, I'm fine. I won't go far, but please don't come and look for me. I might be back later tonight or late tomorrow. But please, everybody, don't worry about me._

_Love you all,_

_Victoria_

I sat the pen down, ran out the door, down the stairs and into the kitchen. I opened the refrigerator and cold air rushed to my face as I grabbed for two of my bottles. Anger started to build up as I thought of how my eating habits were a huge inconvenience.

When I stuffed them into my bag, I noticed that pain that wanted to be released was getting worse. I didn't want to try to cry, because I didn't want to make matters worse.

I took a deep breath and raced out the door and over the railing, but instead of going in the woods where the cabin would be, I went on the other side of the house and ran in the direction of the 'firefly fields'.

Jumping over fallen branches and dodging trees seemed to have gotten easier for me. I wasn't tripping as much and running into spider webs, which I am thankful for. When I reached the huge field where Collin's old grandfather lives, I paused to look around. I wanted to see if it looked any different in the daytime.

It actually looked really bad.

I shook my head when images and thoughts came back rushing in my head. It caused me to notice that when I'm running my mind is too busy to think of anything else but running and what's going on around me, so thoughts like now can't exactly pop in my head.

So I started to run again.

It wasn't till several minutes that I noticed I was in 'firefly field'. So I slowed and paused with my hands resting on my knees. My breathing was fast and raspy before I realized I didn't need to breathe, so I quit and stood up tall to notice my surroundings.

The sun was setting, so the sky was a little bit darker blue with red mixed in with it around the horizon. The grass was still pretty tall, and some fireflies came out early; maybe to greet me. The moon was visible, but wasn't the same beach ball sized moon like last time.

I laid my bag in the tall grass before I seated myself right next to it. "I guess this will be where I'm sleeping tonight." I quietly said out loud. I moved my bag so it was behind me like a pillow and rested my head against it.

I looked up the now darker sky, where stars were now showing up and tried to think of the good old times. Like when I first met Daniel and Kyle, and how goofy they were. Also all the times I hurt Kyle, which made me laugh out loud.

Then I started to think of Grace, which was a good memory, but also a bad one. She used to talk my ear off, which I would love to have her here with me so I had someone to talk to. She also was kind and we became friends quickly. But then the day I found out she was killed played over in my head.

"That was an unpleasant day." Said a familiar deep voice, which sounded to be behind me. My body tensed, causing me to be frozen in place.

"If she didn't call your brothers, she would have been alive today. And we would have been together." I heard the grass around me crunch.

"You don't have to be in anymore pain Victoria. I'm here for you now." The familiar voice said.

A shadow casted across my face, causing me to stretch my neck so I could see what it was that was doing that.

"Aidan" I barely whispered, as I noticed the face that was towering over me.

"You guessed right, my love." He smiled. "I'm back."

* * *

**I know.. a cliffy, and a pretty bad one too. But this interesting chapter should make up for it. Hey, maybe if alot of people review I'll update soon like I did with this one. :D Evil, I know.**

**Buttt, I hope you liked it. It was really interesting to write, and for all you Aidan lovers, he's back. And for all you Collin lovers... well... he's on hold right now. He'll probably be back next chapter. So don't worry!**

**Well, go and review!**

**Thanks.**

**:D**


	28. Emotions

**I am so happy to get rid of that author's note. HA**

**There is about one more hour till the day I said I would post it and it's Ruby Red's one year!, but I can't wait that long. I have school tomorrow. HA. But This chapter is, 6,539 words, just a little bit longer than I said it would be. :D**

**I really wanted to make it long because you guys and gals have been so good to me. Thank you to all my reviewers who take time out and write a review, I really, really, really appreciate it. And thank you to everyone who reads this story, it means ALOT. **

**I hope everyone likes this chapter, it was somewhat tough to write. I just wanted everything to be written already and posted. But I pushed myself to finish it. **

**So.. ENJOY!**

**:D**

* * *

"You don't have to be in anymore pain Victoria. I'm here for you now." The familiar voice said.

A shadow casted across my face, causing me to stretch my neck so I could see what it was that was doing that.

"Aidan" I barely whispered, as I noticed the face that was towering over me.

"You guessed right, my love." He smiled. "I'm back."

I couldn't believe what I was seeing, or what was happening. I jumped up from the ground and crouched in an attack stance. Aidan's back was to me as he examined a leaf on a tree, but I knew and could picture the exact smirk that was planted on his face right now.

"You are doing extremely well." He turned around, causing me to faintly gasp. He was more gorgeous than ever.

I couldn't look away. His pale skin was soft looking, almost as if he was made of silk, and his muscles were even more defined under his tight black shirt than before. His eyes were almost a bright pink, which was covered by his usual black, side swiped hair. He still held the leaf in his hand, but then crushed it by clenching his fist.

"It seems to me that you are doing pretty well. Minus the fact that you're a girlfriend to a filthy dog." He gritted his teeth together. "Which we will change, _soon_." My stomach dropped, but I knew Aidan couldn't do anything to Collin.

Step by step he walked towards me, with his head cocked to the side. He slowly reached up and gently held my chin. "Your eyes," He moved closer, examining them. "—they aren't like mine." As if on cue, a piece of hair fell in front of my eyes; blocking them. But no more than a second later, he softly brushed it behind my ear. "You're drinking animals' blood." Before letting go of my chin, he squeezed it and pushed my head to the side. "I guess I should have expected that from _werewolves._" He spat the word, as if it was poison in his mouth.

I could feel the tension from Aidan as he clenched and unclenched his fists repeatedly. He paced back and forth, glaring at me every once in a while.

"Animals blood, Ha!" He muttered to himself; still pacing, which was making me nervous. Then he stopped in his tracks and turned with a soft look, causing me to hold my breath.

"Don't worry Victoria, we will change everything. We are together again, which I will make everything right. Everything will be back to normal." He smiled wide enough to reveal the vampire teeth that he used to kill the real me. Rage boiled inside of me, tearing apart my insides, screaming to get out. The pain that made me want to cry before was worse than it has ever been, and my body couldn't take it anymore.

I ran vampire speed and slammed him against a thick tree a few feet behind him; causing bark to fly and leaves to fall. I dug my fingernails into his shoulders as I held onto him tight.

"_Nothing_ will be _**normal**__ ever __**again**__._" I snarled. I bared my teeth and a deep growl erupted from my chest, practically shaking me and Aidan. "_You_ caused everything in my life that was normal to _**disappear**_. So don't expect me to think that you're my _hero _now and you're here to save the day." I pushed his shoulders deeper into the tree, which made a cracking noise from behind him. "You _**ruined**_ my life. When are you going to understand?" My voice softened and my grip loosened. I hung my head in shame and released Aidan, turned and walked away, not caring if he was going to attack me or not.

My legs started to buckle but amazingly, Aidan grabbed a hold of me before I touched the ground. Holding me up, he whispered in my ear, "When are you going to understand the fact that you're a vampire now and that you can't change that? You need to face the facts and forget the past." I took an unnecessary deep breath and stood up straight; not needing his support anymore.

I turned to face him, which was when I could tell that I had hurt him with my words. But I didn't care. I had a wonderful life ahead of me, and he took that all away.

"Victoria," He gently wrapped both hands around my face. "—you and I can have a life together. For the past couple of weeks I have been planning the rest of our life. You need to _trust me_." I shuddered from the last two words, the words that Collin would always say to me when I was unsure about something. I knew, I was starting to miss Collin.

When I didn't say anything, he sighed softly and his arms fell to his side in defeat. He silently stared at the ground, not a sound. Aidan not saying anything was deafening, making the crickets and frogs to sound louder and closer than they were.

Without looking at me he spoke after clearing his throat. "I need to go." He looked up, not bothering to move his hair out of his face, and produced a weak smile. "I will be back soon, don't worry."

In seconds, he lightly kissed my cheek and ran off into the woods before I could say anything. If I wasn't a vampire, I wouldn't have been able to see any of that.

I released the deep breath that I was holding in, and my legs once again buckled from under me; but no one was here to catch me. I rolled onto my back and slipped my hands under my head; acting as a pillow. Everything started to run through my head at amazing speeds, causing it to seem unreal.

_I-I don't know what to do._ _Should I run and tell Caden, or talk to Daniel and Kyle?_

I ran through the possibilities and options that I had, which nothing seemed right.

_Maybe I should sleep on it and decide tomorrow._

With a flashlight I brought, I turned it on and rested it next to me, lighting everything perfectly. So when I was comfortably settled, I started to close my eyes, but quickly opened them when I heard some unusual rustling of leaves and sticks being snapped in half around me. I wasn't going to let this thing surprise me like Aidan did, so I jumped up from the ground and got in my usual attack stance.

"Wh-Who's there?" I stuttered. I gulped before hearing a light growl and being jumped on, which then, I was all of a sudden, pinned to the ground.

"Let—" I struggled under their grip; trying to wiggle free. "Let me go!" The scent hit me like a ton of bricks, causing my body to be frozen.

"Collin." I whispered. He shifted his weight so less weight was off of my legs. "What are you doing!?" I yelled; hoping to get the message across that I was upset.

"I don't want you to run." He said breathlessly. "I want you to give me a chance and hear my side of the story." He cleared his throat, obviously uncomfortable before rising off of me. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. I just laid there; still in shock.

"I'm sorry." He muttered under his breath, while turning so his back was to me. I quickly jumped to my feet, wondering what he was going to do next.

He turned with a pleading look on his face. "I didn't kiss her Tori, she came onto me. She asked if I could help her with her test but she kept getting closer and closer, then she just _kissed_ me." All of his words came out rushed, sounding as if it was all one word. "I'm sorry for everything." He paused, taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry I can't give you what you want, and I'm sorry for the fact that your life was ruined and I couldn't have saved you. I'm sorry for everything." Once again, he ran his fingers through his brown hair, looking more exhausted than he ever has.

I wanted to rush over to him and wrap my arms around him and tell him that everything was okay, but everything wasn't _okay_.

"Collin." I said breathlessly, you had nothing to do with me becoming a vampire. You didn't know me then, so _please_ don't blame yourself." My voice sounded desperate; wanting him to understand, but Collin didn't say anything back, making things a little worse. He stood there, staring at the ground as if he was in another world.

Once again that urge to wrap my arms around him and tell him everything was okay came creeping up again. "Collin." I whispered. His trance broke and he stared at me with his hurt hazel eyes.

"Can I ask you something?" He sounded like he forced the words to come out of his mouth; making me nervous. My throat seemed to get tighter and tighter so all that managed to come out of my mouth was a "Mmhm."

He slid both hands in his pockets, acting nervous, as if he was going to ask me out on a first date or something. "What does Caden do that I don't?" I froze; taken by surprise.

"What do you mean?" I croaked stupidly. His hands flew out of his pockets and flew in the air, making me flinch a little.

"I saw you two in the cabin, so I'm asking you, what does Caden do that I don't?" His voice rose in frustration, but quickly died down into a whisper. "What did I do wrong?"

If my heart was working, what he said would have stopped it, and broken it in half. I frowned, wishing he knew everything and wishing that he would just understand it all and not get upset, but I knew he would.

"I need to tell you something." I rushed and babbled without thinking.

_What am I doing?_ I thought to myself.

"Well actually I need to tell you a lot of things." His dark eyebrows rose, almost in excitement but his eyes stayed the same; hurt.

"You know Caden is a vampire right?" I wanted to start everything off slow, and tell him the easy stuff first. He looked towards the ground and shook his head 'yes'.

I took a deep breath, which he seemed to notice and started to pace back and forth, creating a path in the tall grass.

"Caden is well—"He paused in his tracks and his voice faintly appeared in my head. _**Your boyfriend.**_ He thought. I started to shake my head vigorously. "No, No. Caden is defiantly not my boyfriend. Aidan, the one who claimed me, Caden is his twin brother." My eyes were half closed and my body tensed; waiting for a reaction. Still half closed, and in the partial darkness of night, I could still see the blood run from his tan face, as his expression changed from shock to anger.

"You mean to tell me, Caden is his twin brother and you have been hanging out with him?" His voice rose, causing a bird to fly out of nearby trees.

"Well yeah, but he's not evil Collin." I quickly muttered, trying to save myself and hoping he would understand. A deep growl started to form in his chest and he gave me an evil glare.

"How do you know that?" The growl intensified. "You could have been killed Victoria!" I flinched as he reached for me, but before he touched me he grabbed the air, knowing he shouldn't hurt me. He took two giant steps and cradled my face in his large hands.

"All this time, I thought you were his girlfriend or something. But actually you were hanging out _with a killer." _He laughed a booming laugh after seeing my frightened expression. "To tell you the truth I would have rather you be his girlfriend than his play toy." He laughed once again, but quickly stopped when I moved my head from his hands and started to walk away.

"Collin, he's not like that. He's a vampire hunter." I paused in front of my book bag and turned to face him. "He's against everything Aidan has done. He hunts people who go around claiming people for fun, or killing humans as a hobby. He's helping me with everything that has been going on with me."

_Oopps, said too much._ I turned back around; wide eyed.

"And what has been going on with you that I don't know about?" He asked. I lightly smacked myself in the head for making this stupid mistake. But I guess it's better now than never.

"Well—" _How do I start this off?_ I thought to myself. "—it started the first day I got back to the house. I found a letter from Alaric, Aidan's 'leader', telling me that all of us need to leave and move somewhere else. He was warning me that Aidan would be back for me, and that he will kill anybody that gets in his way, no matter if it's family." I shuttered at the thought of Andrew and Abigail seeing the eyes of Aidan as he killed them. "I selfishly kept the letter from everyone because I didn't want to move. It would have meant that I had to move away from you. I was starting to have somewhat a normal life, and I didn't want that taken away from me. Anyways, I had already put my family through so much; I didn't want to have them _move_." I bent down and opened my book bag in which I grabbed a copy of Alaric's letter from a long time ago. Handing it over to Collin, I continued my story.

"Yesterday, when I left class to go and get something from the office, it was a rose." He paused from reading the letter and glared at me. I didn't need him in my head to know what he was thinking, which I knew he was wondering why I haven't told him this before. "It was a rose from Aidan, telling me that he was back from Italy and that I will see him soon. And then that same day—" I bent down to my book bag again and pulled out Aidan's letter, handing it to him, plus the flashlight, even though I knew he didn't need it. "—I got a letter from Aidan telling me that he has our life planned out for us, and that he will be here soon enough so we can spend all eternity together." I wrapped my arms around my body, feeling a little shaken up from all the events that had taken place in such a short time.

When he finished the letters, he folded them neatly and placed them on my bag; not saying a word. I gulped, loud enough for the whole world to hear, and held my breath. When he spoke, a weight was lifted off of my shoulders, even if he was going to yell or scream.

"I don't understand why you never told me this." He folded his arms as well, but I know it wasn't from being shaken up, he was angry. "You put your family lives I dange—" I held my hands up. "I know, I know. I got the same speech from Caden. You—" It was his turn to interrupt me.

"I don't care if you have already heard it, or who you heard it from. Think of Abigail, or Andrew. You could have killed them from not telling anybody anything. Heck, you should be living all the way across the world by now." My opened mouth closed abruptly. My knees failed me once again and gave out, causing me to fall to the ground. I didn't brace myself for impact, I just _fell_. I didn't seem to care anymore. Reality hit me in the face, and it hit _hard_.

As I knelt beside my book bag, Collin did the same and began brushing my hair out of my face. He started to kiss my forehead over and over again before whispering, "I didn't want to say that, but you needed to hear it." He gently kissed me once again. "Don't worry we can fix this."

He stood up and reached in his pocket to grab his cell phone; it caught me by surprise. "What are you doing?" I asked in horror. He paused in mid-dialing and stared at me wide eyed.

"What do you mean, 'what am I doing?'" He repeated in question. I reached out vampire speed and grabbed his phone, closing it quickly. "You can't call Daniel and Kyle—" I tossed the phone on my book bag. "—at least not yet." I finished. He still stared at me wide eyed, as if I was some strange creature from another planet. His hands fell to his sides in defeat.

"You need to let me take control now. You have already screwed up, Tori. We need to tell them everything." He said softly, almost making it seem like he didn't want to hurt my feelings. I really wanted to stomp off and run away from him and never talk to him again, but everything he was telling me was true.

"Well—" I paused and pretended to be thinking about whether or not I should let him, but I already made up my mind. "—fine, but I think we should get a meeting together with everyone and _I'll_ explain everything." I negotiated. He shook his head in agreement and held out his hand; wanting the phone. So I reached down, swiped it up and placed it slowly and gently in his hands, which he grinned in triumphant.

He dialed a few numbers and waited for someone to pick up, which in seconds I heard Daniel pick up and greeted Collin with a 'hello?'

"Hey Daniel, It's me Collin." He waited for a response.

"Yeah, I'm actually with Tori—" He was interrupted in mid-sentence, which Daniel's voice raised and I could hear his voice from where I was standing. "Where is she? Kelly and Chris are worried sick about her!"

"I know, we will explain later. We just need to get everyone together,--"Interrupted once more. "—yes, everyone, including Kelly and Chris, I think they need to hear this too." He shook his head; agreeing to something.

"We will be there in about ten minutes." Then he clicked the phone shut. He turned towards me, still looking exhausted, and with the same hurt eyes as before.

"Tori, I know this will be hard for you. But know that I'm here for you." He walked closer, reaching out a hand; ready for me to take. But my mind seemed to have wanted to go a different route, which involved the image of Collin kissing Katie running through my head. Which I knew, Collin saw it too. His hand fell to his side, and his eyes lowered to the ground as he picked up my book bag. He stuffed the flashlight, and closed it up without a word.

I felt bad, but he should know that I won't get over it and forget it _that _quickly. He was already breaking out into a jog when I finally started to walk in his direction. I was defiantly not ready for what was ahead.

When we made it to the edge of my lawn, we started to walk. Collin kept to himself the whole run, and so did I. We hopped over the railing of the porch and he held the door open for me like a gentlemen that he is.

I took a deep breath as I stepped into the brightly lit house; hearing murmurs from the family room. There was a slight pause as I stepped into the view of Kelly and Chris and five intensely staring werewolves. Kelly was the first to make a move as she hopped off the couch with her arms spread wide and a bright smile spread across her face.

She hugged me tightly, with Chris followed right behind her. "Oh Victoria, we were terrified. Where have you been? Are you hurt?" Her motherly instincts kicked in as she started to examine my arms and face to check for any wounds, but then she remembered that I was a vampire. Chris stepped in front of her with his arms crossed. "You had your mother worried sick about you."

I shrugged. "I told you guys in the letter not to worry about me, and that I was fine." I argued.

Daniel rose from the couch, stopping the conversation which I know would soon turn into a lecture. "Collin told me that you had something important to talk about." He stood in place, which I knew he wanted me to go into the living room where everyone was and talk to them. I slowly walked into the living room, and I could hear Collin's big steps follow right behind.

When I stood in front of all the werewolves, which I haven't seen in a while, my throat started to close up, making it hard to talk. But I cleared my throat and started to tell them everything.

Nobody interrupted me while I told them the whole story. There were only a few gasps from Kelly and a few growls from one or two werewolves, which was a good thing.

When I was finished, they all stared, probably having a million questions going through their head, wondering which one to ask.

Kyle was the first. "So you have been hanging out with Aidan's _'twin brother'_?" He asked, almost in a rude way. But I sucked it up and shook my head. Collin started to defend me and described how Caden has been helping me and how he's a vampire hunter himself. Few liked the fact that he was helping me, but the others didn't trust him as much.

"Why didn't you tell us all this before?" Kelly whispered from across the room. "You put all of us in _danger_." She added with her eyes wide. Before I could answer, Chris wrapped his arm around her shoulders; walking her out of the living room.

I hung my head in shame while images of the family and the first day I arrived here, at the Blaine family's house, played through my head. Part of the night with Collin also played, followed by the smiling faces that surrounded me and sang to me on my birthday.

"I didn't want to lose that. I didn't want to ruin everyone's lives." I turned to Collin. "I didn't want to lose you." I whispered. "I should have told everyone, I'm sorry." It became too quiet. Only the rustling of dishes in the kitchen echoed through the house.

I wanted to run non-stop and never come back, the silence was becoming unbearable.

"Well, I don't think we should be upset about what she hasn't told us. I think we should start looking for the son-of-a-bitch and wipe him off of the planet!" Daniel's voice rose, causing me to flinch a little. But everyone else seemed to be on the same page as Daniel. They rose from their seats and started to high five each other; except Collin.

He was leaning up against the wall, one foot propped up and with his arms across his chest. Hurt was still present in his hazel eyes, with a worried expression spread across his tan face. _Collin._ I thought.

His head slowly turned towards me and his eyes began to smile a bit, but when interrupted by Daniel, it went back to the thing that I hated, _hurt._

"You got the letter yesterday, so that means he must be around here." Daniel started to pace as he thought of the possibilities of where Aidan could be.

_Should I tell them that I saw Aidan?_ I thought to myself. _I shouldn't be keeping anything from them._

A piercing pain started to form by my neck, where Aidan had bit me. I wrapped my hand around it and pretended that nothing was happening. "Guys," I paused, taking a deep breath and trying to ease the pain. "When I was out in the woods, Collin knows where I'm talking about, Aidan found me." Daniel stopped pacing and stared, while everyone started to take their seats again.

"I was just laying there in the grass and he crept up on me. He started to tell me that everything will change and that we will be back together soon." The pain started to get worse. It felt like a million needles were pinning the same place, and fire was burning them into my neck. I grabbed harder, trying to ignore it so no one would ask questions. But Collin caught me off guard.

He bounced off the wall and pointed a finger in my face. "Aidan was there right before I came and you never told me!?" He voice was higher than it has ever been, and anger took over the hurt and worry I saw before. "Why didn't you tell me?" He was less than an arm length away, which I could feel the anger pouring off of him.

When I opened my mouth the answer he stopped me. "If you had told _me_, I could have _stopped_ him." His voice wasn't as loud but his teeth grinded together and a growl started to form in his chest; still telling me he was angry.

Mike stood up from the couch and put a hand on his shoulder and brought him back to the couch next to him.

"Collin's right, why didn't you tell him?" Kyle asked.

I bit my tongue slightly from the pain. "Aidan talked about Collin, saying he didn't like the fact that I'm a girlfriend to a werewolf, and that was going to change soon." I bit my tongue once again. "I didn't want Collin to get hurt, okay!" A huge shooting pain shot up my neck and in my head causing me to raise my voice at the end of the sentence.

Collin was glaring at me, but his eyes softened and he shook his head.

"Collin you know you wouldn't have been able to take Aidan on yourself." Mike quickly stated. Collin just crossed his arms and took his eyes off of me; staring at the wall.

The pain started to increase, the burning started to spread through my neck and down my body. The prickling of needles returned also, spreading into my head and burning my eyes. I wrapped my arms around my head, which the burning made my knees give out so I fell to the floor. I didn't notice anyone else around me; it was as if everything was muted. Then a familiar voice appeared loud and clear.

_You shouldn't have told anyone anything. _Growled Aidan. _Now you have put everyone in more danger than they already were. You screwed up again Victoria, and now you're going to have to fix it. Meet me upstairs in your room, and don't tell anyone unless you want precious Abigail to be killed. _

Everything went away; the fire, the piercing needles, and the frantic voices of the werewolves surrounding me came back.

"Tori, are you alright?" Cried Collin. He was brushing my hair out of my face and held onto my hand. "Tori, please say something!" He pleaded.

I looked around at the seven pairs of eyes staring at me, wondering what was going on.

"I'm—" I let go of Collin's tight grip around my hand and started to get up. "—I'm fine." I claimed. They all moved to give me my space as I stood; all had the same curious expression.

"I had a shooting pain in my head." I wrapped my arms around my body. "It's nothing, I'm fine." Collin had the expression he always had on when he knew I was lying. "I just think I need to go to bed early tonight." I stepped around Daniel and Caleb; heading towards the stairs.

"That's probably a good idea. We all need to get to bed early so were fresh for the early morning." Daniel declared to everyone. I continued my way up the stairs; trying to ignore my shaking knees. When I walked through the hallway, I paused at Abigail and Andrew's door; listening closely. I started to hear Kelly's voice as she read Peter Pan, and Abigail's high pitched laughter, joined by Andrew's laughter. Relief seemed to have washed over me. _He didn't get to her. _I thought._ But if he did, he would have had to kill Kelly to get to Abigail, maybe even Andrew too. _I shook the thoughts and images out of my head as I walked to my door.

I paused, hoping I would be able to hear something; but it sounded as if no one was there. A faint smell of my perfume crept through the doors cracks. So I opened the door slowly and walked into the pitch black room. The only source of light was the moon, which didn't even bright up half the room. I closed the door and stood with my back against my door; waiting for my eyes to adjust and for him to appear. The light on my desk brightened up the room, which revealed him sitting in my desk chair with his feet propped up; looking comfortable. He stood with grace, taking steps towards me with such flow.

"Glad you came." He said sarcastically. He stopped two feet in front of me with his usual smirk. "I was hoping you would. I didn't want to interrupt the reading of Peter Pan. The smile on Abigail's face was too adorable to interrupt the story."

I clenched my fists, wanting so badly to rip him to shreds. But deep down, I knew I wouldn't be able to get in one punch without him killing me instantly.

He turned his back to me, walking towards the bed, and sat down. "I hope you don't mind. I used your perfume so the _dogs_ wouldn't smell my scent." He kicked his shoes off and fell back on the bed.

"Why are you here Aidan?" I hissed. Aidan sat up, with his head cocked to the side.

"Because you decide to tell your little _'buddies'_ of everything that has been going on." He rose from the bed; walking towards me and stopping inches from my face. "When you should have just kept it all to yourself and _**dealt**_ with it." He spat before growling. "Now you have put everyone in more danger than they would have been. How do you feel about that?" He asked angrily.

But I didn't have an answer to that. I didn't really know what I was feeling. I had too many emotions running through me like a continuous river. Confusion, defeat, hurt, sad, depressed, worried; all of them jumbled up together, running uncontrollably.

"I'm sorry." I whispered. He reached up and brushed a piece of my hair out of my eyes, and in return, his eyes softened behind his black, side swiped hair.

"Tori, I get upset because I want to have a wonderful life together. I claimed you for a reason; I just don't understand why you can't accept the facts that were together now." His voice was gentle, back to the way it was after he claimed me; making me feel more like I was actually _something_ and not _nothing_.

"I know, I shouldn't have told them anything. It's just going to take me a while to adjust." I lied. Aidan wasn't as good at picking up on my lying like Collin is; which I'm happy about.

"As long as you can accept it, I'm okay with however long it takes you to adjust." He lightly grabs a hold of my left hand and reaches into his pocket. I wanted to swipe my hand away, but I just wanted him out of here, so I did whatever he wanted. When he got what he needed, he slipped the 'claiming ring' on my ring finger; followed by a bright smile spreading across his face. He released my hand and softly cradled his hands around my face. He moved in closer with his eyes closed, and he tenderly kissed me on the lips and nothing more.

"I'm going to leave, you need your sleep." He released my face and started walking towards the window-doors.

"Wait." I said a little too loud. He stopped in his tracks and turned around. "What happened to me when you were in my head?" I had to ask, I was too curious.

His head cocked to the side and shook his head. "When I'm mad at you, I can put you through pain. But I can only put you through pain where I bit you, but if you get me too angry, it will spread through your whole body." He explained it as if it was some cool, interesting game he got; which made me a little agitated.

He shrugged and turned back around, then paused after opening the window-door. "I will be back to see you tomorrow afternoon." A bright smile appeared across his face. "Goodnight my love." And in seconds he was up and over my balcony.

I slowly and weakly walked over and closed my window-doors. But soon after I just fell onto my bed and turned off the light, not caring about my pajamas.

_I'm so mentally exhausted. _I thought to myself. _I can't take this anymore. I can't put their lives in danger anymore either. _I sat in the dark for a while, wondering about my options. _Maybe I should just go with Aidan and just leave the family. They wouldn't be in any danger, and they wouldn't have to worry about me. _I loved the idea of them not being in anymore danger, but I couldn't think of me living without them. _But I love them too much._ I crawled under the covers, and snuggled more into my pillow, wishing I would fall asleep quickly.

Granting my wish, my mind and everything else started to slowly shut down, causing me to fall into a deep sleep.

--

My eyes slowly opened, which revealed my alarm clocks bright red colors, telling me that it was way too early to be awake. _2:43 am? __Ugh._ Trying to fall back asleep, I started to close my eyes and roll on my side, but something caught my attention. It wasn't a smell I was used to.

My eyes flashed open and I quickly sat up in bed, trying to catch whoever was here, off guard. I pulled the covers off of me and let my feet rest against the soft carpet. When I got some confidence I stood up slowly and started to walk towards the door. When I made it halfway, I heard something.

A breath.

I swiftly turned around, revealing a dark figure which punched me right in the gut. I bent down; clutching my stomach and wishing the pain would stop so I could hurt whoever it was. But before I could stand back up, the dark figure punched me in the face, causing me to fall to floor. One arm was wrapped around my stomach and the other, holding the spot where he punched me. The pain was excruciating and I wondered when it would go away, but it seemed it would never disappear.

The dark figure stood over me and took a shot at my face again, hitting me once more. As I was fading in and out of unconsciousness, for some odd reason all I could think about was my mother. _You're the one who causes all this._ I directed towards her. My body went limp, and my mind disappeared into complete darkness.

--

Before opening my eyes, I made sure I had all my limbs. I would rather find out before _seeing_ it. I tried moving my arms, but they seemed to be bound together behind me. _Not again._ I thought. I checked my feet, they weren't tied and it seemed that I still had both of them. _Thank god._

Part of me was curious to see where I was. But the other half didn't want to reveal what hellish place I was in this time.

Listening to the bad side, I slowly opened my eyes. A bright light was shining from above, causing me to squint a little, but I was still able to see my surroundings. I was sitting next to a middle sized metal table with one other chair on the other side; in the middle of a small grey room. One door was toward the far corner of the room, and a small mirror window you see in law type shows was right in front of me, on the other side of the table.

_I can't be at a police station. They wouldn't just sneak into my room and knock me out. Would they?_ I wondered to myself.

The door jiggled as I stared wide-eyed at it; unsure of who it could be on the other side of the door. The door opened, revealing a gorgeous man in a dark business type suit. He had pale skin and dark black eyes; clashing with his bright, short blond hair. He wasn't muscular, or as tall as the werewolves, and he had to be in his mid-twenties.

"Hello Victoria. I'm Jack." He stated politely. He sat in the other seat with a friendly smile. "Don't worry, were the good guys."I guess he could tell from the horrified expression that I was afraid he was going to hurt or kill me. "What am I doing here?" I wondered aloud.

He smiled even bigger, making him seem a little creepier. "We will get to that later. I would like for you to meet someone." He turned around and nodded toward the mirror.

I looked towards the door immediately, wondering who it could be. The door started to jiggle, and as it opened, my breath caught and a light growl started to form in my chest.

"Mother." I whispered.

* * *

**Haha, yeahh. Another cliffy. ****But yes, it's her mother. And you will just have to find out why she's at that place with Victoria in the next chapter. **

**I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. It was a long one. This chapter showed you how everything is getting tense between everyone, and how crazy Tori is getting with everything that's happening. **

**But there is only two more chapters left, and they are both EXCITING chapters. I am really excited to write them and post them. :D **

**Well until next time... See ya!**

**Btw.. (GO TAMPA BAY RAYS!! WOO!) ... HA.**

**:D**

**DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW! Thanks..**


	29. The Company

**Well folks, this is the second to last chapter of Ruby Red. :( I'm quite sad. **

**This chapter didn't get written until today, which I'm proud that I wrote it in one day, but also I'm upset with my self that it took like 20 something days to get started. Well I hope you enjoy this, Ruby Red is coming to an end.**

**ENJOY!**

**:D**

* * *

I looked towards the door immediately, wondering who it could be. The door started to jiggle, as it opened my breath caught and a light growl started to form in my chest.

"Mom." I whispered.

The growl increased, shaking my whole body. She closed the door but didn't turn around immediately.

"Get me out of here, _now!"_ I growled. I tugged on what was binding me to the chair; nothing happened, but I didn't stop. I bared my teeth as she turned around with a worried expression.

"V-baby." My mother whispered the nickname she called me when I was younger, as she slowly walked over with her arms folded across her chest. "Please, let me explain." She paused behind Jack, who looked a little bit uncomfortable.

"You don't need to explain anything to me." I growled. She started to bite her lip, probably wondering to herself what she should do next.

"V-baby," She repeated, but with shakiness to her voice. "I'm here for you now; you just need to let me explain." She begged.

I opened my mouth but closed it shut. My body relaxed, falling back into the chair. I could feel my wrists pulsating as they burned in pain from the ropes that tied me to the chair. I opened my mouth again, this time taking a deep breath before stating my thoughts out loud. "You haven't been there for me for ten years." I whispered with my head hanging into my chest. "What makes you think I want you here now?"

I could hear the slight movement from Jack as he shifted in his chair uncomfortably. I looked up to see my silent mother staring at me with painful eyes.

Part of me wanted to hug her, kiss her and tell her how much I have missed her. But the pain that was hiding deep, crept up, creating a burning fire inside of me, making the guiltiness disappear.

As we stared at each other, not saying anything or moving a muscle, she turned towards Jack. "Jack, please untie her. I will be back later." Her voice cracked, and she left the room.

Jack stared at the metal table; I waited him to make a move. His black eyes flashed up at me and they weren't the uncomfortable ones from earlier.

"You should let your mother explain. She has a lot to tell you." He stated. He got up from his seat and walked over to me; quickly untying me. "Do you know why she left you?" He quietly asked. I barely shook my head, which was all that I was going to do.

"She left you because of this company. It was either this company or we would have had to kill both of you." His voice quieted towards the end of his sentence. I was frozen in place; my mind was rushing through a lot of information.

"She left me for her boyfriend. She couldn't take care of me." I whispered while rubbing my burned wrists, which started to heal.

He sat halfway on the metal table and he shook his head. "When your father was killed, the company had no choice but to find your mother and have her continue what your father was doing. But when we actually found her, you were about six and she didn't make the decision to come with us till your seventh birthday. Trust me when I tell you this, she **didn't** want to leave. But she wanted to save you."

I wasn't sure what to think of this. I didn't know if I should believe her, or still believe she left me for her boyfriend. I let my healed arms rest on the cold metal table, thinking of what he said. _They know about my father, and everything else. _

I focused my attention back to Jack, which by the look on my face, he knew I believed him. He jumped off the table and walked towards the door.

"Follow me." So I got up from my chair and slowly followed him out the door. We walked out into a bright, grey walled hallway, where we were alone. He walked a few paces before me, which I made sure I was keeping my distance.

"Where are we going?" I dared to ask. He turned to corner before answering, "To a meeting." He stopped in front of a dark grey door that had a sign posted to it saying 'Meeting Room'; he turned towards me. "Your mother is in here, which there is a meeting going on, but it should be over with soon." He looked at his watch that was attached to his pale white wrist. "When the meeting is over with, please listen to what your mother has to say." He begged before opening up the door.

The room was filled with business looking people seated around a large wooden table. Men dressed in grey or black suits, the only few women dressed in women business suits all stared wide eyed at me. All of them were pale as me, with dark red eyes. _Like Aidan's._ I thought before entering the room. My mother was at the end of the table, with her mouth open; paused in mid-sentence.

"I think that's all for today everyone. Good work." Everyone scattered away from the table and out the door. My mother started to stack papers on top of each other and stuffing them into a briefcase.

Jack motioned for me to sit in one of the many seats around the table, so I picked to farthest one from my mother. He scowled, but walked over to my mother and whispered in her ear. She looked up towards me and finished packing up her stuff.

When she was finished Jack went to the door and closed it, and stood in front of it like a guard. My mother sat at the head of the table and sighed.

"V-bab—" She caught herself. "Victoria, I know you will never be able to forgive me for what I have done to you. But you need to understand why I did it." She shifted in her chair, making me notice something. I just then started to realize that her skin was paler than mine, and her eyes were a dark red. _I should have known._ I thought to myself.

"Your father was a—" I cut her off, I didn't need to hear things I have already heard.

"I know, dad was a vampire, he didn't agree with the whole claim thing. I know that." I said a little bit too rudely. Her head lowered to her chest.

"Could you please just cut all the crap and tell me why you _left me_." I hissed. She nodded her head in agreement.

"When you were six, Jack came up to me and told me about this company. I didn't want to believe him at first, but when he started to mention your father, I started to listen. He told me about how there was a couple of people who felt the same way about the claiming thing and got together to make this company. They needed someone to lead it, so they agreed to find me and have me be the leader. But they wouldn't let me bring you with me, so I told them no. That's when my life turned upside down." She paused and took in a deep breath.

"Jack told me that if I weren't to go with them, that the whole company would be in danger. So he told me that it was either the company or they would kill you. So the last day to make the decision was your seventh birthday, which I took the day off of work to meet up with Jack and tell him yes." She finished, causing the silence to become unbearable. She looked at me with pleaded eyes; waiting for me to say something, but I was speechless.

"I didn't want to leave you, but I had no choice. I wanted to tell you _everything_ that day, but I knew you were too young to understand. _Please_ forgive me Victoria." She begged.

I wanted to run out of the room, and crawl in a hole. But I wasn't going to be like my mother and leave without an explanation.

"I-I don't know what to say." I slowly explained. "I mean, what should I say?"

The silence returned; none of us knew what to say, until me and my mother's eyes met.

"I haven't been able to live with myself. I haven't been able to live one _second_ without thinking about you. Victoria, please give me a chance. Please forgive me." She whispered. If I were human I wouldn't have been able to of heard it, but I heard it loud and clear.

A loud knock sounded at the door causing a shocked look to appear on Jack's face, but I was relieved because I was saved from this somewhat awkward situation.

"Mrs. Sherwood, there is a disturbance in the security room." A tall strong looking man, dressed in a neatly pressed suit, stood in the door way with a frantic look upon his face. I turned back towards my mother which she was already halfway across the room with a cell phone pressed to her ear.

"Jack, please give Victoria a tour of the building." She frantically said before walking out the door. Jack gave a small nod before looking at me, waiting for me to stand.

I rubbed my tired eyes, before getting up to get a 'tour' of the place. _I'm defiantly not in the mood to be doing this. _

"Don't even go there; I'm not in the mood either." Jack muttered before walking back out into the brightly lit hallway.

"How—" I paused and I remembered that I didn't block that thought, that made me chuckle a little.

He showed me several meeting rooms, which they all looked the same; grey and boring. I asked him during the tour if he could take me to the security room, which would have been much more exciting but he told me he couldn't. He then took me to the training room. It consisted of all sorts of weapons. _Now this is exciting._ It had swords, shields, boxing gloves, and boxing ring, and other weapons I don't even know of.

"This is the training room. This is where we train our newest members of our company. It's usually the hunters we train almost twenty-four seven, but even if someone wasn't a hunter and just does the business, we train them a little bit anyways." He explained.

We walked out of the room, as two huge guys walked in talking about how many kills they have made in the past week, they were high numbers.

A couple doors down he took a key out of his pocket to unlock a door that had a sign that said 'history room'. The room was extremely dark when he opened it, which he pushed me into the room anyways. He walked in right after me and closed the door while turning on the light. I looked around; surrounding us were old and new pictures upon the walls and old newspaper clippings in frames. I walked over to a photo that caught my attention.

Looking closely at it, I recognized the people in the photo. It was my father and mother, holding a baby. My father's smile was so wide, causing his eyes to be squinty, and my mother has sweat droplets across her forehead as if she had run a marathon. The baby in my mother's arms was wrapped tightly in a blanket smiling as well.

"That picture was taken when you were born." He quietly muttered.

I touched the photo lightly, running my fingers over my father's happy face. "This was the last day my mother saw my father." A hard lump was forming in the back of my throat. "The day my father was killed." I choked out the last word.

Not being able to stand to look at the picture, I walked over to a table that rested a few papers. Above that table, a large stone carving hung on the wall that read: _Thomas Sherwood, a good man with good morals and a pure heart. He will live forever in the hearts of everyone here at Thomas Sherwood Co. May no one forget what he sacrificed his life for. _

_Forever rest in peace Thomas. _

The pain that I endured earlier was back, slowly creeping up into my throat; I wanted so badly to cry.

I cleared my throat, trying to ignore the pain and aggravating urge to cry out. "This company is called the Thomas Sherwood Co.?" I asked quietly, still staring at the stone carving.

"Yes, it was named after your father. You wouldn't believe, but your father convinced a lot of vampires to stay away from claiming. There are over 3,000 workers working for this company, which I'm sure that is a lot more than what your father would ever have imagined." I turned around, and a smiled was displayed on his pale face.

"You guys just convince people to not claim humans?" I was curious. He shook his head no, and I know I heard a little chuckle erupt from his lips. "We do a lot of things. We do convince vampires not to claim humans, but we also have vampire hunters that go out and kill newly born vampires that are disrupting a town or city. Or any vampires that are killing humans for fun. Stuff like that. We also arrange vampire clans, like help them get developed and we keep them in order." My eyes widened as I thought of what my father's small opinion turned into, and how my mother is in charge of all of this.

"I don't understand why you guys made my mother choose either the company or me. I was seven years old when she left. I was left with no one." The sentence faded into a whisper. _I can't stand this anymore. I want to go home and see Kelly, Chris and the werewolves. I want everything to be back to normal. _

"Come; let's go see if your mother is finished with her work." He was almost out the door, so I walked slowly; absorbing the pictures and history around me. Before walking out the door, I paused and turned around; next to me on a table was the same picture I saw earlier on the wall, laying on a pile of papers. I grabbed it and folded it nicely and slipped it in my pocket. _No one will notice._ I thought to myself. _It's my family anyways._

Jack was halfway down the hallway, causing me to jog a little. He abruptly stopped in front of a door with a small window, next to the window 'security room'. Before unlocking the door, he knocked three times; I guess it's a 'secret knock'.

The room we walked into was somewhat dark; if it wasn't for the small television monitors the room would be pitch black. My mother was on the phone and she paused in mid-sentence to smile; probably still happy that I haven't run off or something. I could see the same giant men that I saw earlier behind the televisions talking on walkie-talkies; muttering about some intruders. I was actually pretty excited about the action going on. With the boring rooms, tours, and lectures, it was time for some action to happen.

"Well as you can see, this is the security room. A lot happens here." He laughed a little.

"You mean, you get a lot of stuff going on here?" I was actually surprised, I mean, what happens at a boring company building? Someone loses their pen or something, and they go on a huge search? I laughed out loud, causing Jack to give me a strange look, which made me laugh even more.

Staring at the monitors, my laughing stopped suddenly. On one of the monitors, Daniel, Kyle, Mike and Collin were in crouching positions surrounded by five other men their size.

"Oh. My. God." I breathlessly yelled. "That's my friends, my brothers!" I yelled while tapping one of the guys on the shoulder. "You need to get your guys away from them!" I hissed. A low growl formed in the bottom of my chest, and the tapping increased to punches. Jack, put a hand on my shoulder trying to calm me down.

"Victoria, please slow down and explain it to us." He said as calmly as he could.

I stopped punching the guy and pointed to the screen. "That's my brothers and my friends. You need to tell you guys to get away from them." I explained a little slower than before, but I was still shouting. "You need to take me to them."

My mother hung up the phone and took one of the walkie-talkies off of the desk. "Back down, I repeat back down, but don't leave them. We will be down in a second." She rested the walkie-talkie down and started to walk out the door with Jack right behind her; I followed them. We walked down three different hallways, and into an elevator.

Jack told me that they were in the lobby, which is where we're headed. The elevator wouldn't go fast enough and I started to wish that I took the stairs even though it was thirty three floors.

When the elevator doors opened I ran out of them, spotting them.

"Daniel, Kyle, Mike, Collin!" I yelled while running towards them. I pushed my way through the big guards and wrapped my arms around Daniel, which ended up being a group hug.

"How did you guys find me?" I wondered.

Daniel broke away from the group. "Collin did it. He's getting pretty good at investigating stuff." Daniel started to laugh his booming laugh. I looked up at Collin as everyone broke away from our group hug and he had his usual bright white smile spread across his tan face. He hugged me even tighter, which I rested my head on his warm chest.

"You found me, my prince charming." I whispered. He kissed the top of my head over and over again. "Of course, my princess." He played along. "I will do anything and everything to save you from any danger." He kissed my head once more, but I looked up and he softly kissed me on the lips. It was a different kind of kiss though. He kissed me as if it was our last kiss, or as if we haven't kiss in decades.

"I missed you." He muttered while I stared into his hazel eyes.

"It was only one day, silly." I kissed him once more, before turning to where the rest of the group was. My mother was talking to Daniel and Mike, while Kyle fooled around with one of the emotionless guards.

I walked over, with Collin right up against me. I could feel him all tensed, like he's afraid something is going to happen.

"Well it's nice to meet you Mrs. Sherwood." Daniel politely said.

"So you're her 'brother, and you're his friend," she pointed to Mike, "and you must be her boyfriend." She smiled and held out her hand. I was hoping Collin wouldn't shake it, maybe telling her that we needed to go, but he did the opposite. He didn't even hesitate to shake my mother's hand.

"Yes, I'm Collin." He said in a polite voice; I wanted to gag. A loud group of people came through the glass doors of the lobby, which I turned to see a group of teenagers. _That's odd. _I thought to myself.

A boy maybe eleven years old, with same pale skin as a vampire that clashed with his bright blond hair; rushed up to my mother.

"Mom, you wouldn't believe what happened today." He said joyously. My breath caught and my body tensed against Collin's body. He felt it, causing him to wrap his arm around my waist.

My mother looked in between him and me with a worried expression on her face. A low deep growl started to form in my boy turned towards me, and then his eyes widened. "Your—" He paused and looked at my mother; she shook her head yes. "You're Victoria." He whispered almost.

The growl deepened and got louder.

"Victoria, this is your younger brother Victor." She nervously wrapped her arm around him. My breathing started to increase and I started to hiss uncontrollably. Victor's expression turned from happy to worry in seconds as he realized he wasn't welcome. Collin's grip tightened around my waist. _**Victoria, calm down.**_ His voice appeared in my head.

I slipped out of Collin's grip and headed for Victor and my mother. But Daniel and Mike were too close to them so they grabbed me in time before I caused any damage.

"How could you?!" I cried out. "You left me so you could be in this _stupid company, _and you have a _kid_?!" Daniel was holding me around my shoulders, while the guards that were left; surrounded my mother and Victor.

"You left me _alone._ I had _no one!_" My voice was starting to fade from the screaming. "Then you finally look for me ten years later!?" I stopped trying to get out of Daniels grip; my body relaxed and the growling quieted. "You never loved me." I whispered.

My mother was in pain, I could tell from the look on her face. I knew she never wanted this to happen, but the anger built up over ten years was finally being released.

Daniel's grip loosened and Collin stood in front of me, almost as if he was guarding me from my mother's guards.

"I want to go _home._" I whispered.

I saw my mother nod her head, which two of the guards took Victor to a room across the lobby. My mother stood alone.

"Victoria, it will only take time till you fully understand and accept what has happened. You can't turn back time, trust me, I know that. If I could, I would change everything. I understand you have a life now, a family that loves you. I won't take you away from that, but always know, I'm here for you now." She tilted her head to the side and flashed me a half sympathetic smile.

I couldn't take it anymore. I ripped out of Daniel's grip and headed for the glass doors.

Leaving the past behind me.

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**Hope you liked it. :D**

**The next chapter is going to be alot of fun to write. Not only because it's the last chapter, but because it's going to be exciting with lots of stuff going on.**

**So get excited.**

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	30. I Love You

**Dun dun dun! The last chapter! :( I'm really sad right now. But really tired because It's 3:00 am and I have been finishing this up all day. But I want to thank everyone who have stuck this out with me since the beginning. Especially the faithful and wonderful reviewers!!!! You reviewers motivated me to write more and finish this story. So thank you soo much!! ( I would put everyones name who have reviewed on this story but I'm too tired, so maybe later HA) Well I really hope you enjoy this chapter. There's alot going on. It's defiantly my favorite chapter... so I guess that's saying alot. Just make sure you pay attention! lol. This chapter is 9,665 words long! The longest chapter I have written. Woo hoo.**

**Okay this is wayyyy too long. So.. this is my final enjoy..**

**ENJOY :D**

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I stared at the faded, bent picture of my parents and me that I took from the 'history room.' Sitting on the edge of my bed, I recalled all the events that occurred today, once again, leaving me thinking of my mother and the mess she has caused. I threw the picture behind me, no longer having the need to look at it or be depressed about my past.

I released a long sigh as I faced my reflection in the mirror; the reflection of my mother. I took the hair tie that was around my wrist and tied up my long wavy hair, which I was still looking like my mother. I ran over to my desk and brought out some eye liner, quickly applying, making my dark ruby eyes even darker. I rested the eye liner upon my desk and faced the 'new' me. I looked a little different, but I knew that if I still had my brown eyes, like my mother's, nothing would have mattered.

A soft knock came from my door. I walked over and slowly opened it, revealing a wide-eyed Collin. "Wow, a new look." He stuttered a bit. I would have laughed, but I wasn't in the mood.

"What do you want? Here to humiliate me?" I held back a growl and the urge to slam the door in his face.

"No, no. You look really—" he held his breath and shook his head. "You look really, really pretty." He breathlessly finished.

I felt the corner of my mouth turn up into a smile, causing Collin to give me one of his bright white smiles.

"That's the real Tori I know." He cupped my face in his large hands and kissed me gently on the lips, causing shivers to run down my spine. "I don't like to you see you all sad like this." Our lips met once again, but our lips departed too quickly. "Now is a lovely, handsome knight like me allowed to enter the princess's room?" I could hear him holding back a laugh while keeping a straight face.

I decided to play along. "What does this knight in shining armor have in exchange to enter my room?" I wrapped my arms around his waist; waiting for an answer. "Well, I _did_ save you today. Shouldn't that be enough?" With a bright smile spread across his tan face, he wrapped his arms around my shoulders. "Shall a kiss be what you want?" I smiled and his lips came crashing against mine. It lasted longer than the last one, so I unwrapped my arms from around his waist and ran my fingers through his hair. We started to kiss more passionately, but he broke the kiss. His chest was rising rapidly as he gasped for air.

"Sorry." A small chuckle erupted from my lips, and an awkward presence filled the air. "Umm, you can come in." I moved away from the doors entrance and closed it as he walked in and crashed on my bed.

"Kelly told me to tell you that you don't have to go to school tomorrow." There was a slight disappointment in his voice; as if he wanted me to go. I joined him on the bed; resting my head next to his chest, listening to the sound of his heart beat.

"I want to go. Going to school will distract me from everything, which is what I need." He seemed to perk up a little; happy about my decision. "Well anytime tomorrow you want to go home, just tell me and I'll drive you." He started to play with my hair, twirling it with his fingers.

"Tori," He took a deep breath as his heart slowed. "I am truly sorry about the situation with your mother. Nobody should ever go through something like what you're going through." He kissed the top of my head before continuing. "And I hope you know that, if there is anything you need, I am here for you. I will always be there to save you when you need me." The tone of his voice started to worry me.

_Is he afraid of what might happen with Aidan and me?_ I thought to myself.

"Collin, you don't need to explain anything to me. I know I can count on you to be here for me. Don't worry about anything; I can hear it in your voice." I looked up and met his worried hazel eyes. He smiled and kissed me on the lips.

"Don't get mad, and you need to read this with an open mind. But before I left today, your mother gave me a letter for you."His words were rushed, but I completely understood what he said, which my body tensed and I knew he felt it too. "You just need to give her a chance to explain herself." I sat up and looked away.

_I can't believe he is on her side._

"Now Tori, I'm not on her side. Everyone deserves a second chance and if you still don't like what she says, then so be it. But please, just read it for _me."_ He said with pleading eyes.

It took me a few minutes to decide whether or not she deserves a second chance to explain herself. I held out my hand, waiting for him to give me the letter. His face brightened and he reached in his back pocket, revealing a white envelope; which he placed in my hand.

"It's already ripped open." I stated. A guilty look was written all over his face.

"I just wanted to make sure that there wasn't anything written that would hurt you even more. I figured you wouldn't care." He gave a half smile; erasing the guiltiness completely from his face.

Looking down at the envelope that rested in my hands, flash backs of the events that occurred today played in my mind. But one thing displayed strongly in my head; my mother's disappointed, tired, and stressed face pleading to let her back in my life. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before taking the letter out of the envelope to read it.

It read:

_Dear Victoria,_

_This letter may never get to you, for you probably don't want to ever hear from me again. But if you are reading this now, thank you. You have faith in me. I know the events that occurred today, you may never forgive me for, but just let me explain myself. _

_I wanted so __badly__ to see you again, to touch your soft skin, to look into your bright brown eyes, to listen to your melodic voice. __I didn't want to leave you and I have told you that many times. To tell you the truth, I knew about you for years; when you were living from family to family. But I couldn't do anything to let you know that I existed. I wrote you several letters actually, but they were taken away from me. I know what you're thinking, and yes, I am a higher ranking than anyone at the company, but there is someone who is a higher rank than me in the vampire world. They wouldn't let me bring you into my life. Finally a couple of months ago, I made a deal with them. I could let you know that I was still alive and bring you into my life, but I would have to devote my eternal life to the company. So I signed the paper and you were brought to me. You don't understand how excited and nervous I was. I was excited to see you and talk with you, but also __extremely__ nervous to see how you would react. _

_I knew nothing was going to be the same as it was when we were a family, but I was hoping it would have happened better than it did. Forgiving me will be hard, I know that. And I know it will take time, but please, I don't want to lose you __again__. I will kill myself for you. _

_All that I ask is that you have an open mind about this situation. And I hope that you will give me a chance to see you again. Hopefully we can have a better chance to talk than we did today. _

_Love you, __so much__._

_Mom._

I looked up from the letter, with Collin staring attentively at me. I folded back up the letter and handed it back over.

"Thank you." He muttered quietly. He looked at his wrist watch and smiled. "It's past my curfew; Mike is going to be upset." He jumped up from the bed and in three steps he was opening the door. He paused and turned around.

"Are you sure you feel up to going to school tomorrow?" He asked with concern but there was hope that I was going, written all over his face.

"I need the distraction. I need _you_." I replied. He smiled and popped kissed me on the lips. "Goodnight princess."

I did a small curtsy, "Goodnight my brave, handsome knight." He smiled proudly before walking down the hallway.

I silently closed the door and started to slip off my clothes and into my pajamas. Quickly brushing my teeth, I finally made it to my bed. With my eyes starting to close, I turned out the light which was also the switch that helped me enter the pit of darkness called sleep.

---

_**Sleepy head wake up!**_ My eyes popped open to a glaring teacher. I smiled, showing Mr. Stafford that I was wide awake and ready to learn. He believed me and turned back towards the class, talking about the different types of scientific names for certain animals.

_You didn't need to do that Caden. Next time tap me on the shoulder or something. _

I looked over and he was silently laughing to himself. _**Well excuse me, next time I won't help you out Mrs. Pain-in-the-butt. **_I chucked my pencil at him, but he was too quick and dodged it. _**By the way where have you been? **_

I rolled my eyes. I didn't want to get into a conversation, let alone a conversation about why I have missed school.

_**Did you and Collin get giggy wid it? That's why you two were absent?**_

I chucked what was left on my desk which was a pen and an eraser. But once again he dodged both. _No, we didn't get giggy… whatever you said. I had some family issues and that's all I'm going to tell you._

I tried tuning out Caden by actually listening to Mr. Stafford. He was actually a brilliant teacher, but I'm just not into school. "The scientific name for a ruby-throated humming bird is Archilochus colubris." Mr. Stafford started to write on the board, which gave Caden an opportune time to throw a note on my desk.

I flashed him a glare and he shrugged, followed by a smile.

_-Is everything okay with you and Collin? You guys haven't talked all period. Is that your 'family issue'? _

I sighed; he's just not the type to let things go.

_-Everything is great between me and Collin. Mike and Daniel had him running through the woods practically all night, so he's a little tired. And no it's not my family issue. I don't feel like discussing it._

I tossed the note back to Caden when Mr. Stafford turned to write another scientific name for an animal on the board.

I watched as Caden read the note then at the same time we both turned around to look at Collin. His head was rested on his arm, eyes closed, and he was drooling immensely all over the desk. I wanted to wake him; to save him from the embarrassment, but I wanted him to get some sleep.

I turned back around as the note landed on my desk again.

-_Yeah, I can tell he's tired. Well you don't have to talk about it, but know that if you ever need to talk, I'm here for you. _

_-Well thank you. Have you heard anything about your brother, or at least know where he is? _

I threw the note but a little too late.

"Ms. Blaine, do you have something that you would like to share with the class?" All eyes turned towards me. I even heard Collin shuffle in his seat as he woke up.

_**What did you do now?**_ Collin asked in my head.

"No Mr. Stafford, I was just giving Caden his paper that fell off of his desk." I lied. He paused to think about it, and continued the lesson.

_Did you drool enough to make a moat around your desk?_ I turned and he was glaring at me while wiping the drool off of his desk.

_**Real funny. You are just so hilarious…**_ He sarcastically thought.

I turned back around with the note placed on my desk. I rolled my eyes and opened up the note.

-_Nothing is new. I just know that he is still in town and that he won't be leaving till he gets you. _

A shiver ran down my spine.

_My father said that he will more than likely be attacking soon and that we need to be prepared. So I think that sometime this weekend we all need to get together and figure out a plan._

_-Alright, I will talk to the boys when I get home. I already know that Collin will agree to it, unfortunately. But I will call you when they all agree on a time._

The bell rang as I started to fold up the note, which I quit and just handed it to him. He mouthed the words 'bye' as I walked with Collin out of the classroom.

"What was that note all about?" He asked sleepily. I grabbed a hold of his hand intertwining our fingers together.

"Just about why I was gone for the two days and that you, him and everybody need to get together over the weekend to figure out a plan." His eyes widened in excitement. "I figured you would be happy about that." I muttered to myself.

As we opened the doors to the hallway our next class was in, Katie stepped in front of us with a smirk as wide as her face could stretch.

"I guess you two are back together." Her two friends walked up behind her, looking a little concerned. "Too bad," She placed her hands on Collin's chest, and then his shoulders. "We would be a much better couple than you and _her."_ She spat the last word, making a burning sensation in the back of my throat; like heartburn.

I squeezed Collin's hand. "Katie, I never liked you, so get over it." He spat, followed by a small growl that I could only hear. She frowned, but then smiled before giving me a quick glance. "But Collie-kins," I really wanted to barf and punch her in the face at the same time. "You're the one that kissed me the other day." That's it.

I released the grip Collin had made around my hand and punched her in the face. Not with full strength as it could have been, but just enough to give her a black eye for the next week. We ended up on the ground with me on top of her, pulling her hair. She was screaming, but started to slap me and pull my hair also. I felt Collins grip around my shoulders as he pulled me off of her.

When I was being picked up and in the air, and she was up off the ground, I gave her a quick, swift kick in the gut.

"You whore!" She yelled while clutching her face and stomach. A random guy was holding her back, while Collin dug his fingers in my arms.

"Ha, you're the whore here bitch." I spat on her and the whole hallway started to scatter. I knew what was coming.

"Ms. Sparks and Ms. Blaine." I closed my eyes as I heard the clicking of Mrs. Stockwell's heels against the tile floor, coming closer and closer. "I would have never of thought that it would be you two getting into a fight." I opened my eyes and Mrs. Stockwell was scowling at the both of us. With the look displayed on her face, you would think you'd be dead right then and there. Thinking about what was going to happen when my family finds out; I would love to be dead right now.

Collin's grip was still tight around my arms and it didn't seem like he was going to budge anytime soon.

"I don't have anything to say to either of you. Follow me to my office." She walked past me, but stopped and turned back around. "Collin, I would like for you to come also, so you can tell me the details." She started to walk again, and we followed.

Collin finally let go of my arms, but he held onto me with one arm around my waist. _**There was no need for that.**_ He thought angrily.

_Well I think you should grow some balls and face your own troubles so I don't have to do them for you._ I thought back.

He pulled me tighter against him, making it a little harder to walk. But luckily we finally made it to Mrs. Stockwell's office which she made me and Katie stay outside while Collin told her everything. And well, Collin told the truth and every detail.

He walked out, glanced at me and walked out of the main office. _Thanks a lot, jerk._

Mrs. Stockwell called me in and instructed for Katie to go see Mr. Raymond the assistant principal. I walked in and sat down without hesitation. I needed to cool down, which at the moment I wanted to rip Katie's head off.

"Ms. Blaine, how shocking it is to see you here in my office." She sat in her big fancy leather chair and fixed some papers that were sitting on her desk. "I didn't think someone like you, who is a part of the Blaine family, would get into a fight." I clearly heard the disappointment in her voice, making me wonder what trouble I will be getting into when she called the house.

"I called your house and I left a message about you. Your parents aren't picking up their work phone so hopefully someone got the message." She took off her glasses and gently placed them on the desk. "Is everything okay with your family?" She stared at me intently. "Any issues in your home life?"

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. Luckily a soft knock came at the door.

"Come in." She replied while putting back on her glasses. I didn't dare turn around, I knew who it was. I could smell them through the door.

I heard the door click open which caused chills to run down my spine.

"Daniel and Kyle, how have you been?" She jumped from her seat to welcome them into a hug. I sunk deeper into the chair and buried my face in my hands.

"We're doing great and staying out of trouble." They all exchanged laughs and pats on the shoulders. "Well I wish I could say the same for her." I could feel their eyes burning in the back of my head.

"Yes, well I guess we should get started." I heard Mrs. Stockwell's heels click against the wooden floor as she took her seat, and heard the two unoccupied leather seats next to me get filled by Daniel and Kyle.

I peeked through my fingers, revealing a stressed Daniel and Kyle with one eye brow raised.

"Today, Ms. Blaine decided to get into a fight with another girl. I'm not going into details, for she can tell you it all." She messed with some papers on her desk before continuing. "But unfortunately I am going to have to suspend Victoria from school next Monday and Tuesday. I am also going to have her sent home today." She stated.

I whimpered from the punishment, and from the thought that this wasn't all that was going to happen to me.

"I appreciate you making it just two days and not a whole week. Trust me; there will be other retribution when we go home." Daniel exchanged a glare at me and Kyle was still looking at me with a menacing smile.

"Well I think that is all. Victoria, I hope that this will teach you from repeating this action. I hope that you know now that you can come and talk to me or any teachers or even your family if you have an issue with another student." She stood from her seat and held out her hand for Daniel and Kyle to shake. "Daniel, Kyle, it's so great to see you both. It seems like you're getting bigger and bigger every time I see you guys." She laughed, but turned to me and she suppressed her laugh. I guess it was my expression that was across my face. Well good, she deserves it. I was just trying to give Katie what she deserved.

---

The whole way home they didn't say anything to me. The silence started to kill me but we finally made it home.

"I called Kelly and Chris before we came and got you. They are on their way home." Daniel stated as I stormed up the stairs.

"Victoria." I stopped mid-step and slowly turned around. "Do you want to talk about it?" There was really nothing to talk about. A girl threw herself on my boyfriend, trying to aggravate me and he did nothing to stop her, so I had to.

I shook my head, "Nope. I'm just going to go to my room and enjoy the last few moments of my life." He laughed, "Don't worry about it; Kelly and Chris are good with these type of things. They are only going to ground you from the television and social activities for about a month."

I continued up the stairs. "Yeah, that's not bad at all." I sarcastically replied. Making it to my room seemed to take an eternity. But when I made it I crashed on my bed, not wanting to be disturbed by anybody or anything.

It started to seem that everything in my life that was good was starting to crash down on me. _What did I do wrong to deserve this? Am I really better off with Aidan? _I thought to myself, but quickly shook my head. _Don't think like that—_

I started to smell something different but familiar. It wasn't something that was here in our home every day, but I have smelled it before.

"Victoria, can you please come down here!" Kelly yelled from downstairs. I reluctantly arose from my bed, dragging my feet in the process of walking out of my room and down the hall.

"I'm coming!" I yelled back. I peaked around the wall and looked down stairs. Chris was quietly muttering to Daniel and Kyle but Kelly was nowhere in sight.

I took a deep breath and started to walk down the stairs, going as slow as I could without making it noticeable. I focused on my feet; one step after another and the soft wood flowing against my fingers as I ran it down the railing as I walked. I wasn't going to look up and make contact when I didn't need to.

The last step seemed to have come so quickly and I was facing Chris's disappointed face. "Victoria," He breathlessly acknowledged. "I'm not going to lecture you about what you've done. I'm sure you have a good reason on why you did it. All I'm going to say is that you're grounded from television, the phone, and you can't go out with your friends for two weeks." I didn't gripe or argue, I knew I deserved that; I knew what I did was wrong.

The smell I smelt earlier got stronger, but I still wasn't able to recognize it.

"Where's Kelly?" I asked. I noticed Chris shift uncomfortably from one foot to the other. "What's wrong?" We all exchanged glances with each other.

Kelly's voice appeared behind me. "I'm sure she will be fine," I turned to see Kelly walk out of the kitchen with an unwanted guest. A low deep growl formed in the bottom of my chest and I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Victoria, please let me talk." My mother's hands held up in surrender as Kelly's arm slipped away from my mother's shoulders.

I started to clench and unclench my fists as the heartburn became worse than ever. Arising within me was a feeling of need to rip my own mother's throat out. It was like someone was controlling me, telling me that it was the right thing to do. My own thoughts were going against it.

_Run away. She's your own mother, you can't kill her! _My body relaxed, helping me from panicking. _I have to get out of here. _I thought to myself. I ripped out of whoever was gripping my shoulder and ran out of the door vampire speed.

I was already in the woods in less than four seconds; loving the superpower that I was given when I became a vampire. I knew where I was headed, but I didn't know what I was going to do when I got there.

The cabin came up quicker than I thought it would. I opened up the creaky wooden door; swiping spider webs out of the way as I walked in. It was set up the same as last time I was here with Caden. The same two chairs that were facing each other when Caden kidnapped me were sitting in the corner collecting dust and spider webs. Some of Caden's weapons that he was going to kill me with still rested against the wall in a pile. _Nice job, dummy. _

I walked in, a little hesitant and unsure about what could be living in here; Caden has come up on me unexpectedly before so my body was tense and ready for attack.

"Is anyone in here?" I listened as my own voice echoed back to me, but heard nothing but the same mice as before; crawling in the walls. I slowly walked in, feeling the depression seep in. Feeling the need to sit before my legs collapsed from under me, I sat in the chair Caden sat in when he kidnapped me.

The pain was creeping up on me again; creating the urge to cry. A lump formed in my throat and my eyes started to burn. I rocked back and forth in my chair, making me feel a little bit better.

_Maybe I__** should **__go with Aidan… _I wondered.

My head snapped up and the rocking stopped. My ears perked up like how Collin does when he hears something he's interested in. I guess I learned it from him; that made me smile.

I focused back to the noise I heard coming from outside which seemed like it were twigs snapping in half. But for some strange reason, I had no urge to get up to investigate. Instead, I started to rock back in forth, feeling better once again.

"V-baby." I kept rocking, ignoring her. I didn't react to her like I normally would have. I guess I just knew she would find me somehow and come after me.

She shuffled her way over to the seat in front of me; actually having the nerve to sit down next to me.

"I want to talk, please." She pleaded. I stopped my rocking and glared at her. I knew that I needed to keep my thoughts and actions under control so I complied.

"You read my letter." She said it more like a statement than a question, but I shook my head anyways.

"Talking to you right now," She shook her head in disbelief and took a deep breath. "--this seems like a dream." She finished. She arose from her seat and started to pace.

"Several years ago, I never thought it was possible that I would talk to you like this, let alone _see _you. I never wanted to lose you. Leaving you _killed me_, Victoria. It took three years to stop feeling for you, _hurting _for you. I missed you terribly and when I finally got to bring you back to my company it felt like my life was restored and fresh. I never _ever_ wanted to hurt you. Which I know it's impossible for you to think that, but it's true. I wish I could rewind time and somehow gotten away from the company." She paused in her tracks and raced back to the seat. She slowly reached to cup my face in her hands but her arm fell to her side, followed by her head falling into her chest.

"Sometimes I just want to stab a knife right through my heart for the things I have done to you. Stab myself in the heart for how many times you had to meet a new family, go through troubling times without me, crying because you wanted me back." Her head raised and a gasp nearly slipped out of my mouth. The pain in her eyes made me wonder if she actually was just stabbed in her heart. Her face looked pained and older; more wrinkles set around her face. In her eyes she was pleading for me to forgive her, wanting the past to be reversed, wanting everything to just go away. Wanting to be able to cry and release that pain, just like _me._ She reached up once again and cupped my face in her hands.

"I'm _so sorry._" She breathlessly declared. "Please forgive me. I want to be in your life now, I want to do the things I wasn't able to do when you were growing up. _Please._" She begged. Her hands dropped from my face, which it was holding it up, so my face dropped into my chest.

"All I wanted was a _life_ a _mother. _And you didn't give me that; you took that away from me." I raised my head to get a better look her.

"As harsh as this may sound, Kelly is my mother now. The Blaine family is _my family_, and this time you can't take that away from me." Her head bowed into her chest this time; in defeat.

I took a deep breath and she noticed; raising her head to focus on what I had to say next. "And if you can accept that, I think I should be able to accept you back into my life."

It took her a few seconds to realize what I said, but when she did realize she perked up. She rose from her seat took a few steps to the wall and back; crushing me into a hug.

"Oh Victoria, you don't know how happy I am right now. I feel like," She released her hug but kept her hands on my shoulders. "I feel like a new fresh, happy person right now." Her pained eyes were gradually turning upward; following her smile that was spread from ear to ear.

"Maria," I called her by her first name; it caught her off guard. "This may sew some things up for us, but not everything. I can't just forget everything and got on with things. I just want you to understand that."

She let her arms drop down to her waist and she shook her head. "I understand that it will take some time. But at least we took the first step." She smiled, which was the first real smile on her face in a long time.

She sat back down in her seat. "I know there are a lot of things that you would like to ask me. I can see it in your eyes." She nodded her head; telling me to sit down, which I complied.

"There are a few things." I lied. There were a lot of things that I wanted to know, so many questions that I would like to be answered.

"How long have you been a vampire?" I didn't want to bring up why she left me, or any of that. That was in the past right now; where I was going to leave it.

"When I went to the company, it was required that I became a vampire. They needed someone that was a family member of his or emotionally connected to your father, which I was the only one left. And I couldn't control a company full of vampires if I was just a human. So I have been a vampire for about ten years." She answered truthfully.

I nodded my head; understanding. "Were you going to tell me about your," I choked on the word. "son." I finished.

She shifted in her seat uncomfortably. "Of course, I didn't mean for you to find out about him like that. I had Victor a couple years after I left you. I really didn't mean to have him, which I know would be hard to believe. But you are my daughter, he is my son and nothing will change that now. I love you both dearly and I will never leave you _ever_ again."

We talked for about three hours, mainly about my life. She would ask me questions about my birthdays, first days of school, Christmases, the different families I've been in. We laughed a little, if we were human, we would have cried a little. Also, her motherly instincts came in when I told her about my past boyfriends and she got upset when I told her about the fight earlier today with Katie. But most we started to talk about Collin, which she approved of him.

"I think we should go. Kelly invited me to dinner, if you don't mind me joining." I smiled, feeling a little better with our relationship. But there was still that past that catches up with me and discourages me; still making me feel like nothing will ever be right again.

I got up from my seat and she followed.

"Race ya." She gave me the mischievous grin she always did when I was a child, and in exchange I nodded before racing out the door.

---

My mother and I sat next to each other at the crowded table filled with extremely hungry werewolves. We both sat and drank a bottle of animal's blood each.

"The food looks delicious. You seem like a great cook Kelly." My mother complimented.

"Thank you. But I'm so happy you could join us for dinner; we always like company." She stated before filling her mouth with food. All the five boys, not including Collin, sat on the other side of me, Collin my mother and Faith who was quiet the whole time. Abigail and Andrew were at their grandmother's house so luckily we had enough room.

_**You and your mother look great.**_ Collin slipped in my head, so I exchanged a glance with him.

_Well, I forgave her and we had a nice long conversation, so yeah… I guess. _I replied in thought.

_**Well great. I am happy to see that.**_ I would have rolled my eyes if I wasn't at the dinner table.

"So Victoria, heard about your fight today." Mike laughed. "I heard you screwed her up good." I silently kicked him under the table, which I guess he didn't notice because Kyle nudged him in the side and they started to laugh for some stupid reason. But Kelly didn't like it, so she cleared her throat.

"Now Mike, we don't want food that's from your mouth out on the table so please swallow before you talk." She gave him the look that adults give when they aren't speaking their mind and that they are upset with you, so Mike shut his mouth real quick.

"So has Victoria been a good girl while she's been here?" My mother smiled at me, I forced a smile back.

"Oh she has been great. She helps out around the house, and she's great with Abigail and Andrew. We truly are blessed to have gotten someone like her." Chris finally spoke up, which his voice brought warmth in the air.

My mother rested her hand on top of my hand which was laid upon the table. I felt the need to take my hand out from underneath but I fought that urge. I needed to get used to being nice to my mother.

"Well you guys have been great to me. I really appreciate everything you guys have done for me, especially with putting up with all my crap." Kelly gave me one of her warm smiles that was spread across her face. She looked like she was about to cry.

Kyle got up from the table while carrying his empty plate. "Okay, I'm done with all this mushy stuff." He walked off to the kitchen while everyone followed. They all passed Kelly, giving her a kiss on the head and thanking her for dinner. The table cleared and my mother left with Kelly to help her with the kitchen. Collin returned to sit with me at the table, instead of sitting with all the guys in the living room.

"Hey." He muttered while sitting down. He kissed me on the lips, letting go too quickly. "Hey." I muttered back. We started into each other's eyes, getting lost in them; our smiles broke our trance.

"I'm so proud of you." He kissed me again, our lips meshing together. "I'm so happy that you and your mother are on good terms." I nodded my head which was the only thing I could do.

"Let's go sit with the guys." As I stood up, Collin gave me a threatening smile. But before I could say anything he picked me up like a sack of potatoes; over his shoulder. I started to smack him on the back.

"Let go—" I smacked him hard. "—of me." I finished. We walked into the living room where the television was blaring.

Someone smacked my butt as we walked into the living room, but I wasn't able to turn to look who it was. "Let me down Collin."

He laughed and threw me down on the couch, then fell on top of me. He knocked the breath out of me, so I pushed him off the couch.

He glared at me from down on the floor and I laughed one of those evil witches' laughs. He got on all fours and a small playful growl erupted from his chest. I took the pillow that my head was resting on and hid behind it.

In a split second, Collin muttered Mike's name and in a flash Mike was holding my arms above my head. "Mike, what are you doing!?" I yelled. Collin started to growl out loud exposing his werewolf teeth. My eyes widened and I tried squirm out of his grip. "Hey, you're not allowed to use other people you cheater!" I directed towards Collin.

He ignored me and pounced on me, lying on top of my wiggling legs. He started to tickle me under the arms and where my worst tickling spot is; under my chin. "No—"I gasped for air for I was laughing way too hard. "Please—" I couldn't move, and Mike was laughing at me, plus the rest of the guys. "—stop!" I managed to yell; getting their attention.

"You need to _stop. Please._" I begged while still laughing. Kyle got up from his seat with a mischievous smile planted across his face.

"Ha-ha, good idea." Mike muttered from behind me. "Yeah.. nice." Collin stated before giving me a kiddy-like smile.

"What…" I wondered aloud. Kyle picked up my feet while Mike still had my arms and they brought me up and over the couch.

"Mike… Kyle… what are you doing?" I wondered again. I looked at Collin with wide eyes, making him laugh. Collin simply replied, "We're going to play jump rope with you." My eyes widened as far as they could go and I started to become even squirmier; but they had a good grip.

"You can't have a human as a jump rope!" I declared loudly. "I'll get you better one from the garage!" They looked at each other and laughed which Mike replied, "Were not. Were having a vampire as a jump rope!" They both bust out laughing. "You know what I mean..." I growled under my breath. No matter how much I yelled, they just ignored me. They started to swing me back and forth, so I quickly closed my eyes and held my breath.

"Mike, Kyle I'm going to get sick!" I warned. Then they stopped abruptly and the room was quiet which I was wondering why, so I opened my eyes and saw Caden standing with a confused look spread across his face.

"Did I come at a bad time?" He questioned, looking confused. Mike and Kyle dropped me on the floor, knocking the breath out of me. I shook it off and quickly got to my feet, but also exchanged glares between the three 'little children'.

"No. Your fine, they are just being idiots." I heard a couple of chuckles from behind me.

"Well good because one of my father's skilled vampire hunters spotted Aidan about twenty-four miles from here."

My breath caught and I could feel the whole room tense. The television was turned off, or it was just me tuning it out and the chairs and couches squeaked from them getting up and out of their seats.

"What do you mean?" Daniel, the leader was the first to speak.

"Me and my father gathered up about fifteen vampire hunters to patrol around the town and just about five minutes ago one of them spotted Aidan and Alaric twenty-four miles away." He explained without hesitation. My legs felt like they were made of jello and just wanted to collapse from under me; but I didn't let them. "Also that he heard Aidan and Alaric talking about Aidan's army, they are all headed here." I guess my legs collapsed from under me because Collin was behind me, holding me up. His grip was tight around my waist, already becoming protective of me.

"Vampire speed, twenty-four miles—" Brent started rambling to himself. "—five minutes ago." He broke out of his trance and directly stared at me. "They should be here in about six minutes." I gasped and Collins grasp tightened.

_**It'll be okay. I won't let him take you. Trust me. **_He would always say those two words when I unsure about a situation and it always made me feel better… but this time it didn't help.

"Yeah I think that's a good plan." Collin agreed. They were all communicating with each other with their minds; I hate that.

"What's a good plan?" I asked. They all just stared at me, including Kelly, Chris and my mother who seemed to have come down when I wasn't paying attention.

"Mike, you are going to be with Brent and Caleb. Kyle you will stay with me. Maria, you are going to be with Collin and Victoria." They all nodded their heads as they agreed to the plan I didn't know of; this was making me upset.

"What is going on?" I yelled a little too loud; but it got all of their attentions. They all left me in the dust once again and started to scatter. Collin wrapped his arm around my shoulders and started to lead me out of the house with everyone else.

"Collin—" He kept pulling me along. "—where are we going?" Collin looked at me and smiled. "Don't worry about it my princess. The knight in shining armor will save you, remember?" His bright white smile distracted me, making me smile in return and forget what was going on around me.

He still kept pulling me along, but we were in the front yard now. Mike, Daniel and the other werewolves were transforming all around us before running into the woods.

"Victoria, we need to run really fast through the woods. And—" I was about to ask him where we were going but he held a finger to my lips. "—don't ask where were going. _Please_. Just hold onto my hand and you will be fine. Your mother will be right behind us." He informed me. I shook my head and he took my hand, squeezing it twice. He smiled and kissed me in a way that I didn't like. It was too uncertain and troubled, like he was hiding a scared little boy behind his big strong bad boy image.

He pulled me past the border of our lawn and the woods and we started to fly by the trees at amazing speeds. The sun was still somewhat bright, but within the trees it darker; scarier.

I could hear my mother following close up behind us; staying with our speeds.

_**Keep going, I need to stop.**_ My mother's voice popped in my head, including Collin's.

_**Alright, you know where were going. **_Collin replied.

We continued to run, but Collin tugged on my arm; stopping me.

"What are we doing? Are we here?" I asked while looking around. The area we stopped at had a small clearing with trees and bushes all around it. It was only big enough for me Collin and all of the other guys to stand in.

"Stay behind me." He growled. My breathing started to increase and I could feel my body tense with fear. "What's going on?" I whispered. He growled once again, this time it erupted from his chest like a lion roaring.

I didn't want to ask again, but I was really eager to know what was going on. So I started to focus on hearing my surroundings. This was when I heard small leaves crunching in front of Collin. I grabbed onto his hand, feeling a little better.

I peaked around Collin's body and a large wolf came into view. It was Daniel because of the wolf's dark brown hair.

_**There was nothing that way. The others are coming from all around and scanning the area. He's around here somewhere and his army also. But they are all scattered and staying out of the way.**_ Daniel explained loud and clear in mine and I'm sure Collin's head also.

_**We were too late! I knew we should have just taken the car and driven her somewhere. **_A growl erupted in our heads, making me cringe from it being so loud.

_**Collin, don't worry about it. We all can keep her safe and watch out for her.**_

I decided to pop in their conversation. _I can handle myself! I'm not some wimpy little human anymore. _The growl in Collin's chest escaped his lips and he exposed his wolf teeth; so I backed down and let go of his hand.

_**Victoria, you don't need to do anything. Please just stay out of the way.**_ Daniel pleaded.

I didn't notice, but Mike, Kyle and Brent came in different directions.

_**They're coming. They are all getting together now. Caleb and Maria are around here and they will tell us when they are near. And Caden and his friends actually already killed a few. They will be staying out around the clearing to make sure none of them run away. **_Kyle explained in everyone's head.

I couldn't stand the thought of putting everyone in danger like this. It's all my fault, I should have gone with what I said earlier and just gone with Aidan; none of this would of happened.

"Tisk, Tisk, Tisk." I turned around to a see nothing but trees and darkness where the setting sun couldn't reach. Collin grabbed a hold of me and stood in front of me. "If only you came with me my dear love." He slowly stepped out of the shadows; his black side swiped hair shining from the colors of the sky. He blended in with the shadows; wearing all black. "If you came with me—" He stepped closer, making Collin's growl deepen. "—your family would have lived…" He chuckled at the thought and enjoyment of killing my family.

"Well my family—"Collin's big hand went right over my mouth, practically wrapped around my whole face, but I broke free. "—my family is going to kick your ass!" I yelled before Mike nudged me in my butt and Collin once again putting a hand over my mouth.

We started to hear chuckles all around us, in the shadows. "So this is your _thing._" A boy about fifteen stepped out of the shadows where Daniel came from earlier. "She's a feisty one isn't she?" He had a sinister smile written on his face; causing me to hiss at him.

Other's started to appear out of the shadows, circling all of us in. There were about nine of them, including Aidan and the ages must have ranged fifteen to twenty five; all wearing black.

"You do always pick the weird ones Aidan." I could barely hear the guy who said this over Collin's loud growling. But I peeked at the guy who said it, which he looked like the oldest one. He seemed innocent but nobody should judge a book by its cover.

"I do don't I. But this one is _different_. This one I will share with all of you. She can be like," He put a finger to his chin; pretending to be thinking while staring intently at me. "She can be like a community _bitch_." Before I could say something or react, Collin flew through the air towards Aidan and transformed into his wolf form.

"Collin, No!" I yelled while going after him. Someone grabbed me from behind and I knew it wasn't any of the other wolves.

"Say good bye to your precious family." I recognized the voice to be the innocent guy. He had a grip around my waist and picked me up; dragging me deep into the woods.

"Daniel, Mike help!" I yelled, but chaos erupted in the little clearing. I couldn't tell who was who; everything was a blur. I started to kick and punch whatever my feet and hands could reach but it wasn't hurting him.

"Help!" I yelled over and over again. Everyone was occupied with their own fight; some wolves had to have two vampires against them.

"Holy sh—"the innocent guy dropped me on the ground while screaming in pain. I started to crawl backwards so I could have my back to a tree. Recognizing the fur, Caleb was on top of the vampire while he tried scratching his way out from under him. Caleb used his big claws to scratch at his face, but the vampire started to get smart. He started to use his vampire teeth and sink them into Caleb's paws, which Caleb yelped in pain.

"Caleb." I got up from sitting on the ground and ran towards him but someone grabbed me. I kept pushing my way over to where Caleb was still fighting but this person was too strong.

"Victoria, stop. Caleb is fine." It was my mother. She dragged me off father away from the clearing and Caleb.

"Maria, we need to help them! They are outnumbered!" I ripped out of her grip and faced her. She was worried, I could tell in her face, but she was staying strong for me.

_**Victoria. I am fine. You need to listen to Daniel and stay out of our way. Most of these vampires are new and weren't trained to fight against werewolves. So please, stay with your mother.**_ I shook my head, not wanting to comply but I knew it was the right thing to do. Caleb nodded his head and ran to the clearing.

"Come over here, we can hide behind these bushes." I grabbed my mother's hands and lead her a few steps away from where we were standing. The bushes were perfect; we could see the clearing but we were far enough away to be safe.

I peeked through a break in the bushes and focused on the clearing. I could see a few vampires already lifeless on the floor, some with their heads right off. Daniel rose on his back legs to tower over one of the vampires. The vampire was in an attack stance, baring teeth and all and also hissing. But Daniel didn't hesitate as he landed on top of him, scratching him, ripping his clothes and skin open. Daniel raised on his back legs once again, this time the vampire didn't do anything but raise his hands to cover himself, but he couldn't take the weight anymore and collapsed on the floor with Daniel's paws in top of his face; crushing his head. Daniel slowly backed away; making sure he was dead and gone. He then started helping Brent out with a bigger one than the one he just killed. Instead of Daniel using his usual strategy, they just attacked the vampire by biting him over and over again, finally snapping his neck in half; which I cringed at the visual.

_Collin. _I thought. I looked over to where Collin should be but he was nowhere to be seen. Without thinking, I got up and started to run towards the clearing. I could hear my mother following. She could see the fight was over with so she didn't stop me, which it was; except we didn't know how things were with Collin and Aidan.

"Where's Collin?" I stepped over dead vampires, even recognizing one of them as being the fifteen year old. _What a shame._ I thought as I stepped over him.

I made it to the middle of the clearing and glared at all of the guys in their wolf form.

"Well? Where is he?" They all exchanged glances at each other.

_**Right here… **_Collin appeared out of the shadows where Aidan appeared before the fight started. _**I lost him; we need to get you out of here now. **_

My mother walked over and stood beside me. "Come on. Let's go." As I turned to leave, my mother pushed me out of the way, causing me to fall on top of a headless vampire. For a second I thought it was me screaming but then I noticed nothing was coming out of my mouth. It was my mother. Everything seemed to move at slow motion. I looked up and the werewolves were running towards her, so I did the same. At vampire speed, I arose from the headless vampire and headed towards my mother who was on the ground with a knife through her heart.

"Mom!" I yelled for her as I ran to her, feeling like I was going in slow motion. I knelt beside her and glared up towards the woods where Aidan stared almost in shock at what was before him. A pained look expressed across his face before, at vampire speed, running off into the woods.

As I knelt down on the soft wet ground beside her, I softly slipped a lock of her dark brown hair behind her ear, revealing a pale, angelic face. She looked _so_ peaceful, like she knew she wouldn't have to deal with her horrific life anymore; that all the pain she went through, all the deaths she had encountered, all the wrong decisions she had created that made her cringe every time she thought about them; they were soon to be forgotten. Her unnecessary breaths were short, deep and raspy like, and for some reason before she took another breath; I knew, this was her last. Her chest raised and fell for the last time and her tense body relaxed; releasing the tight grip she had around my hand. The woods were quiet. Neither a single bird nor animal made a slightest noise. I could faintly hear the deep, tired breaths of my enemies and friends surrounding me as I softly whispered her name continuously. The sun was slowly departing, but made a beautiful red, orange and yellow glow within the blue sky. It casted a glow upon my mother's face, making her look more beautiful than ever. Ignored water droplets fell from my cheeks, dropping softly on my mother's cold, peaceful face; sliding down the wrinkles that stress has created from over the years. I reached up; touching the small bottom rim of my eye, feeling small droplets of waterthat were actually _tears_ which were coming from _my eyes_. The buildup of pain, hopelessness built up for so long, finally _broke free_. It made me feel like I was human again, that I was actually _crying_. I held my short quick breaths and slowly bent down, kissing the forehead of my mother and whispering the very few words I never had the chance to say since I was little. "I love you."

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**Well I really really really hope you enjoyed the chapter AND the story... I hope everyone who have reviewed in the past AND who haven't reviewed before should review now since it's the last chapter. lol But I really want to hear what you guys think of this chapter. I had this chapter all thought out since the 2nd chapter soo yeah. This chapter and getting your feedback is really important to me. So please just take 3 minutes and REVIEW!**

**Also put in the review whether you want a second Ruby Red. I have it all thought out already but I don't want to write it if nobody cares for it... you know?**

**-I know it's late but happy thanksgiving everyone! I hope you all had a good one. **

**WELL SO LONG AND FAREWELL. THANK YOU ONCE AGAIN EVERYONE!**

**Now review!**

**:D**


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